Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas found itself in an unlikely spot after 13 straight years of walking into the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns needed a win Saturday against Kansas State just to stay in the hunt for a bid.

Texas also found itself an unlikely player to help it to at least a stay of execution -- Alexis Wangmene.

The senior had a career high in points (15) and rebounds (13) and his first career double-double as the Longhorns came from 15 down in the second half to beat the Wildcats, 75-64 in front of 14,640 fans at the Frank Erwin Center.

Texas (16-9, 6-6) has now ripped off three straight wins after struggling through a 3-6 January. Texas' .500 Big 12 record, along with quality wins over KSU, Iowa State and Temple, could be enough to secure that spot in a 14th straight NCAA tournament. Of course that is contingent upon Texas at least remaining level as it moves through the last six games of the conference schedule.

Given that the Longhorns play Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma (twice) all teams with less than .500 conference records as well as a reeling Baylor at the Frank Erwin Center, remaining inside the bubble at least seems plausible. If Texas continues to play the way it did in the second half against the Wildcats, it seems probable.

In that 20 minutes, the Longhorns scored 48 -- the highest one half output of the conference season -- and held KSU to half that number.

“They came out in the second half and they punched us in the mouth and they punched us again and again and again and they got us on the ropes and we never punched back,” KSU coach Frank Martin said. “To do that will all those freshmen was impressive.”

But it was a senior, Wangmene, who might have been learned more in the past week and in the KSU game than any of the freshmen. Following the Texas A&M game, Texas coach Rick Barnes pulled his senior post player aside and tried to motivate him.

“What I don't understand about you is when we really challenge you to get up against guys that can play, you really take that challenge on,” Barnes told Wangmene.

“Why don't you do that all the time regardless of who you are playing? Why don't you do that? You really can change the way the game is played all the time.”

Wangmene did change how Kansas State went about its game. Because of Wangmene's interior defense, KSU was forced into a one-on-one offense in the second half. As the Wildcats became stagnant, Texas started to find its rhythm on the offensive end.

The Longhorns gave up the first bucket of the second half but followed that with a 16-2 run.

“We didn't panic,” point guard Myck Kabongo said. “We have guys that can make plays on this team.”

J'Covan Brown would be that guy. His 3-pointer that put the Longhorns up 56-54 capped a run where he scored 8 of 11 Texas points. The Longhorns never trailed again. Actually they were never even threatened. With the officials all over the whistle -- Texas shot 28 free throws to KSU's 0 in the second half -- Texas just continued to stay aggressive, attack the rim and build its lead. It also continued to force KSU into quick possessions and poor shots.

“They did to us what we have done to other people,” Martin said. “They defensively crawled up in us and completely took us out of anything we wanted to do.”

Now what Texas has to do is go on the road and try to pick up two crucial games at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. A loss to either team could put Texas back out of the NCAA Tournament.

Texas hosts Kansas State Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center. This game will go a long way to helping the Longhorns' bubble chances.

According to Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology, Texas is one of the last four teams into the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed.

Here's the full bracket.

The rest of the hoops weekend has Baylor and Missouri meeting in the Big 12's best game.

The class of 2012 is all but finished which means it's time to turn our attention to junior days.

In this week's Verbal Commit Podcast, RecruitingNation looks at 2013 prospects who will make their names known at junior days around the country.

Take a listen.

So we introduced you to TCU on the blog early Thursday, but the pleasantries are out of the way. Let's get serious about this now.

TCU's entering a brand-new world. It won't find any New Mexicos or UNLVs in the Big 12. Even 2-10 Kansas beat the MAC champions this past season.

College Nation blogger Andrea Adelson and Big 12 blogger David Ubben went head to head to offer their thoughts on how the Horned Frogs will handle the transition.

David Ubben: We're back, and it's time to get our hands dirty. The first question is the biggest: Can the Horned Frogs handle the jump and continue their success? TCU's enjoyed 11-win season after 11-win season in the Mountain West. Gary Patterson is 109-30 as the Horned Frogs' coach. What do they have to do to win like that on the big stage?

Andrea Adelson: That is the eternal question facing any school outside one of the automatic qualifying conferences -- how do they measure up once they start playing with the big boys? All we can do is guess until the games begin. But from my vantage point, I think TCU is well-positioned to have a run of success in the Big 12 for a variety of reasons. TCU actually plays defense, and plays it well. I know some folks in the Big 12 might not understand what I am talking about, but consider that the Horned Frogs had a string of three consecutive seasons in which they ranked No. 1 in total defense from 2008-10. Patterson is known throughout the country as one of the sharpest defensive minds, and his group's tenacity and aggressiveness have been their hallmarks. TCU is in the perfect place for recruiting, right in the heart of Texas. Patterson already has worked wonders with gems who were deemed "not good enough" for the likes of Texas. Now that he can sell the Big 12, the quality of his classes is sure to go up. And he has an experienced team coming back this season with some serious playmakers on offense, which should allow the Horned Frogs to fit right into the high-powered Big 12. Casey Pachall proved last season he has what it takes to lead this group, and receiver Josh Boyce is a rising star.

DU: All good points. I agree with you on both counts. TCU's days of leading the nation in total defense are absolutely over with the kinds of offenses in the Big 12, but they have the program stability to rebound from a below-average season defensively in 2011-12.

As for recruiting, we could be poised for a giant to rise. I really believe that. If TCU starts winning consistently in the Big 12, the draw of being the only team in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex could be enormous. The amount of talent in DFW is more than most states. Now, they're almost all within a 30 to 40-minute drive of TCU. Everybody in the Big 12 recruits the area. TCU is now the only team with the ability to offer them a chance to stay really, really close to home. For some, that will be a big draw. I wouldn't be surprised at all if TCU starts stringing together top 10 recruiting classes annually, right on par with Texas and OU.

The team coming back this season wasn't too far off from playing in the national championship game (seriously). Baylor won that dramatic game on the season's opening night, and TCU lost to SMU in overtime later in the year. It's scary to think that you switch a play or two here and a play or two there, an undefeated TCU team plays for the national title.

You hear a lot of talk about TCU's lack of depth. How's that going to affect this team? Is there anything mythical to the idea that the week-to-week grind could be too much of an immediate challenge for the Horned Frogs' current personnel?

AA: Depth is always the argument that is held against any team outside the non-AQ conferences. I thought Utah joining the Pac-12 would be the perfect test case. To me, the Utes had a successful season, even though they lost more games than they had in the Mountain West. They made it to a bowl game in Year 1 as an AQ school, and they won their bowl game against Georgia Tech to finish 8-5. Consider they also lost starting quarterback Jordan Wynn and had to play somebody with limited experience. I think TCU is in even better position than Utah, simply because TCU has a better team returning in 2012. The Big 12 might have a stronger overall conference, but Patterson is no stranger to play in the league, having faced Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech in recent years. But back to the question on depth -- of the 11 players listed on the two-deep at defensive line at the end of last season, 10 return. The running back rotation goes at least three deep. The receiving group is deep and talented as well. If I did have a concern about depth, it would probably be on the offensive line and in the secondary. But TCU replaced nearly everybody on the line last season and had no problem, and the defensive backs got better as the season went on. Still, as a college coach you want your depth to be in the trenches so that is the one area I am going to be paying most attention to in 2012.

DU: Yeah, Patterson is no stranger to Big 12 squads. I think OU fans are still a little sore about that upset back in 2005. The Sooners have only lost at Owen Field three times under Bob Stoops, and the Horned Frogs did it to Stoops and Adrian Peterson.

Depth on the line will be big, but unlike the SEC, where you need big defensive tackles, the Big 12 requires you to have speedy, physical pass-rushers. If you can get pressure on the quarterback -- not necessarily sack him, but get in his face and make it difficult for him to get through his progressions -- with just four or five guys, you're going to have huge success in this league. Texas has done it a lot lately, even while they've struggled the past few years. Oklahoma did it a lot this past season with Frank Alexander.

We'll find out quick if TCU has the athletes to make something like that happen.

TCU is a little more like Mizzou than Texas A&M in that the program is so established before coming to its new league, versus A&M, which is undergoing lots of change on the field and on the sidelines. How will that affect their entrance?

AA: I think it is a huge plus for TCU to have stability right now. You could even say TCU is one of the most stable teams in the country. How many other teams can say their head coach has been around for 12 years, been to two BCS games and won one of them -- the "Granddaddy Of Them All"? Patterson has gotten overtures from other programs, but he seems committed to TCU today and into the future. He has rebuilt this program in his image. It has to be a confidence-builder going into the season to know that TCU has beaten teams like Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma in the recent past; that this program is used to winning with discipline and focus. Every year Patterson talks about putting up his pyramid and making sure his players understand they are starting at the bottom and have to work their way to the top -- a conference championship. From there, perhaps a national championship would be in their sights. That obviously gets a ton easier now that they are members of the Big 12. But I don't think Patterson is going to do anything differently, other than maybe coach 'em up a little bit harder.

DU: Yeah, most people sort of assumed Patterson would leave at some point, but he's really built something special at TCU. Clearly, the move to the Big 12 both validates that and makes it seem likely he won't leave Fort Worth for a long, long time. He's got the Frogs rolling.

Being in the region will help. Like you said, playing and beating those teams adds to the familiarity. West Virginia, on the other hand, is going to be almost a total outsider in that respect. Both WVU and TCU are built to win quickly in this league, but I have to think TCU gains a little edge because of the familiarity factor.

TCU's built to win, but probably not built to win big just yet. You talked about that pyramid. What does TCU have to do to scale it and win its first Big 12 title? Any guesses as to how long it takes?

AA: I bet TCU wins a Big 12 title in the next five years. I don't see it this year because TCU has to get adjusted to new opponents and playing in an AQ conference. But I really have a hard time doubting Patterson, especially given his ability to recruit. To me, Texas and Oklahoma remain the Goliaths who have to be slayed. Every other team has made nice runs, but nobody has really had the same long-range, sustained success as Texas and Oklahoma. If I am Patterson, my focus is getting into their territory.

DU: I don't know about five years, but I'll take your bet within the decade. It's tougher to win now without a championship game and divisions. If TCU was in the old Big 12 North, I'd like their chances in a five-year span. But having to outplay Texas, OU and everyone else in the Big 12 over a nine-game conference season is never easy. That's the goal. It'll be fun to see if TCU can reach it.