Horns' troubles continue with loss at Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — You could point to specific things: the turnovers, the missed free throws, the failure to secure critical rebounds.

Or you could take a broader view.

Texas has not done much of anything consistently well while deteriorating from NCAA championship contender to flat-out mediocre.

The 15th-ranked Longhorns, putting all of their deficiencies on display Wednesday, lost to Missouri 82-77 in front of 14,389 at Mizzou Arena.

The Longhorns, 17-0 and ranked No. 1 in mid January, have lost six of their last nine games, falling to 20-6 overall and 6-5 in the Big 12.

Coach Rick Barnes has recently been incessant in his insistence that assist-to-turnover ratio has been critical to the Longhorns in victory and defeat.

On Wednesday, the Longhorns committed 18 turnovers against Missouri's trapping defense and made just 11 assists.

Missouri (19-7, 7-4) converted the turnovers into 25 points.

Barnes could understand four turnovers by Avery Bradley, a freshman guard who played aggressively. But senior center Dexter Pittman and junior guard Dogus Balbay also committed four apiece.

"Those are older guys," Barnes said. "They can't do that."

The Longhorns hit just 10 of 19 free throws.

They allowed Missouri 17 offensive rebounds, the Tigers turning them into 16 second-chance points.

Guard Kim English led Missouri with 18 points - 13 in the second half. Forward Keith Ramsey had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Freshman Jordan Hamilton led Texas with 24 points. Hamilton converted 10 of 16 field goal attempts - including 3 of 7 3-pointers -but missed 5 of 6 free throws, all in the first half.

"I'm mad at myself," Hamilton said. "This week after practice I didn't do a lot of free throw shooting. I was working on my 3-pointers."

Damion James scored 18 points and freshman Bradley had 15, but each padded his total with a 3-point basket in the final minute. The outcome already had been decided.

James grabbed 11 rebounds but said, "I gave up two offensive rebounds (to Missouri) in crucial situations."

The Longhorns fell behind 11-1 in the first three minutes, the product of four turnovers -three by Balbay. They would commit four more in the next seven minutes.

Balbay dribbled on the perimeter or tried to pass inside instead of using what Barnes said was the preferred approach against Missouri - driving to the basket.

Pittman, meanwhile, was called three times for traveling near the basket. He did not have an official field goal attempt, only two free throws.

"I think it was our pressure," Ramsey said. "Pittman was so worried about us doubling him that he tried to get his shots off really quick, and he kept on traveling."

After the initial flood of turnovers, the Longhorns summoned a measure of poise, losing the ball just twice during the final 10 minutes of the first half.

They still found a way to blunder through the period, missing 9 of 17 free throws.

But Hamilton converted all three of his field goal attempts, Bradley hit 4 of 8, and the Longhorns left for the halftime break trailing by just 32-31.

They accomplished that despite playing the final 7:09 without James, assigned to the bench by Barnes with two fouls.

Texas limited Missouri to 30.6 percent shooting in the half.

Missouri nearly doubled its shooting accuracy in the second half, hitting 58.6 percent.

And the Longhorns committed eight more turnovers.

"Nobody could really handle the ball for us today," Barnes said. "It was just really surprising to me that no one could handle Missouri's pressure."

mrosner@statesman.com; 445-3958