While most students will be enjoying their winter vacations as far away from the classroom as possible, the Texas men's basketball team will be enduring a month-long cram session in preparation for their upcoming conference schedule.
Sporting an unblemished record through nine games for the first time since 1981-82, the team is off this week in order to prepare for their academic finals, but they return to the court on Saturday for a home game against Texas State in the first of six pre-Big 12 Conference pop quizzes.
Texas owns a 36-5 advantage in the all-time series against the Bobcats, dominating inside the Erwin Center to the tune of 25-2. In fact, the last time the Bobcats defeated Texas in Austin was in 1937.
The Longhorns then host Oral Roberts Dec. 18 before heading to Auburn Hills for another difficult road game as they face Michigan State, currently ranked ninth in the AP Top 25. So far, road games have not phased the Longhorns, who have defeated Tennessee and UCLA away from home.
Led offensively by sophomore forward Raymar Morgan's 17.6 points per game and senior guard Drew Neitzel's average of 4.7 assists, the Spartans hope for a repeat of their performance against Texas last year, when they upset the No. 18 Longhorns 63-61, giving Texas its first loss of the young season. Neitzel scored the winning basket of that game with 2.4 seconds remaining.
With a week off to enjoy the Christmas holiday, Texas takes to the court again on the following Saturday, closing out 2007 with a home game against Wisconsin on Dec. 29. The contest marks the first of three consecutive games in Austin for the Longhorns.
The Badgers are 6-2, sitting in third place of the Big Ten, with both loses coming against ranked opponents - No. 6 Duke and No. 10 Marquette. On the other hand, the No. 4 Longhorns are the only team in the country to have victories over a pair of AP Top 10 opponents.
With all five starters averaging double-digit scoring, led by A.J. Abrams' 19.1 and D.J. Augustin's 19 points per game, the Longhorns enjoy a 23.9 point average margin of victory.
Texas finishes off its non-conference schedule against TCU and Saint Mary's (Calif.) on Jan. 2 and Jan. 5, respectively.
Coach Rick Barnes will use the next week to prepare for the opening game of league play when the Longhorns head north to Columbia for a Saturday afternoon showdown against Missouri.
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