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No. 22 Texas’ backcourt struggles in loss to Colorado

Kerwin Roach Jr.

Texas’ Kerwin Roach Jr. (12) shoots over Colorado’s Wesley Gordon (1) and Derrick White (21) during the first half of a consolation NCAA college basketball game in the Legends Classic tournament Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

AP

The questions coming into this season surrounding Texas’ backcourt remain not only unanswered by seemingly more pertinent to the Longhorns as they return home to Austin from Brooklyn.

Texas went 0-for-2 in its Big Apple swing with a 68-54 loss to Colorado on Tuesday, just a day after the 22nd-ranked Longhorns fell by 19 to Northwestern in the Legends Classic.

The backcourt figured to be an issue for the Longhorns after Isaiah Taylor, somewhat surprisingly, decided to jump to the NBA early, ultimately going undrafted. Against the Buffaloes, Kerwin Roach led the Longhorns in scoring with 16 points, but needed 6 of 16 shooting from the floor, including 1 of 4 from 3-point range to get there. Eric Davis went 3 of 11 from the field (1 of 6 from deep) while Kendal Yancy was 0 of 3 overall.

If your starting backcourt goes 9 of 30 from the field and 2 of 11 from 3-point range, you’re going to have problems. And that came on the heels of that starting trio going 7 of 20 from the floor in the blowout loss to Northwestern.

There’s little reason to panic for the Longhorns, though, given how early it is and the talent on the roster. Davis and Roach are both just sophomores both being asked to take over bigger roles this season.Ultimately, Texas is going to be leaning on its McDonald’s All-American freshmen, Andrew Jones and Jarrett Allen, to be significant contributors once Big 12 play starts. The Longhorns have some time for their backcourt to adjust to new roles and for the team to develop an identity with so many new players and people with new responsibilities.

As for Colorado, it was an impressive response from a narrow loss the previous night to Notre Dame. Derrick White hit 7 of 10 shots for 16 points while George King was 5 of 9 for 12. The Buffaloes corralled 17 offensive rebounds as well, and are increasingly looking like a potential contender with the three teams - Oregon, Arizona and UCLA - considered to be at the top of the Pac-12, especially with Arizona’s issues.