Nov. 6, 2008
Complete notes [PDF]
THE OPENING TIP
The Longhorns open the 2008-09 season with an exhibition game against the Houston Jaguars on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. Central in the Frank Erwin Center. Admission to the game is free and seating is open.
Following this weekend's exhibition contest, the Longhorns will host the three-day, four-team World Vision Classic to open the regular season on Nov. 15-17. UT will face Dayton on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m., and take on St. Mary's (Calif.) on Sunday evening at the same time. The Longhorns will face their first ranked opponent of the year, when they close the World Vision Classic on Monday, Nov. 17 against No. 25/20 Old Dominion.
TEXAS REWIND
Coach G and the Longhorns will host a post-game Q&A session in the Lone Star Room called "Texas Rewind." Admission is open to all, but space will be limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis. The first of two sessions will be held following Sunday's exhibition game against the Houston Jaguars.
SCOUTING THE HOUSTON JAGUARS
The Houston Jaguars are a group of former collegiate players and ex-pro players. Now in their 12th season, the Jaguars are coached by Louis Ray III. In earlier exhibition play, the Jaguars fell to No. 19/17 Baylor (123-70, Nov. 3), SMU (82-70, Nov. 4) and No. 17/18 Arizona state (83-61).
HORNS PICKED SECOND IN BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
Texas was picked to finish second in the Big 12 Conference in a preseason vote of the league coaches. The second-place billing was the highest preseason rank for the Longhorns since they were predicted to finish second in 2005-06.
CHECK OF THE POLLS
UT was ranked No. 13 in both The Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today preseason polls. The Longhorns are one of five Big 12 Conference teams selected in the Top 25. Oklahoma is ranked No. 4/7, while Texas A&M and Oklahoma State come in at No. 11/10 and No. 14/15, respectively. Baylor rounds out the five league teams with a No. 19/17 ranking. In addition to facing its ranked conference opponents in Big 12 action, UT will face three opponents in pre-conference contests that are also ranked in the AP and ESPN/USA Today Preseason Top 25: No. 7/6 Tennessee (Dec. 14 in Austin), No. 17/18 Arizona State (Dec. 18 in Austin) and No. 25/20 Old Dominion (Nov. 17 in Austin).
2007-08 IN REVIEW
Under the direction of first-year head coach Gail Goestenkors, Texas reached the Big Dance for the first time since 2005. For the first time in UT history, the Longhorns entered NCAA tourney play without a single player having prior postseason playing experience. Despite the challenges, the '07-08 squad claimed a 72-55 victory over Minnesota in the opening round before falling 89-55 to No. 1 Connecticut two days later.
TEXAS NUMBERS UNDER GOESTENKORS
In Gail Goestenkors' first year at the helm, Texas went 22-13, winning its most games since the 2004-05 season when UT finished 22-9 and also advanced to the NCAA Second Round. The Longhorns held the opposition to 37.7% field goal shooting, the third lowest FG percentage defense in Texas history, while also setting the single-season free throw percentage mark (.740). The Longhorns also finished Big 12 regular season play first in league steals for the first time in school history with 156 steals for a 9.75 pg average.
WHAT'S BACK
The Longhorns return four starters (Carla Cortijo, Brittainey Raven, Earnesia Williams, Ashley Lindsey) from last year's squad that advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. When broken down statistically, Texas also returns 83.9 percent of its blocks, 81.8 percent of its scoring, 80.6 percent of its assists, 73.8 percent of its steals and 70.1 percent of its rebounding. Included in the breakdown are UT's top five scorers from last season. (Raven, Lindsey, Cortijo, Kat Nash and Williams).
RAVEN NAMED PRESEASON BIG 12 HONORABLE MENTION
Junior guard Brittainey Raven is one of four returning starters for the 2008-09 Texas women's basketball team. Raven was the Longhorns' top scorer in conference play last season with an average of 14.6 points per game (11th in the league). In addition, the 6-0 Raven ranked 10th in Big 12 field goal percentage (0.412), 13th in assists (2.50 apg) and 11th in free throw percentage (.702, 73-104). Raven notched double-figure scoring in 15 of the 16 league contests.
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