The  game starts in about an hour. University of Pheonix Stadium is pretty empty. Ohio State fans are disappointed in having two losses this season, while Texas fans are disappointed that they aren’t in the national championship game in Miami, Fla. That could explain why there doesn’t seem to be much fan interest in this game.

Never the less, a win for Texas could be a big springboard towards next season’s national title chase. Also, it would give the team its fifth straight bowl victories and send the seniors on the team out on a good note.

The Big 12 has struggled so far in the bowl season. Missouri escaped with a narrow win over Northwestern and Oklahoma State and Texas Tech both lost bowl games they were favored in.

It’s up to the Longhorns to turn the tide tonight. Stay tuned for updates throughout the game.

Being down five points and amidst a 14-2 run by the opposing team would make most coaches call a timeout.

Not Rick Barnes.

“I wasn’t going to call a timeout. I told the guys sooner or later they’ve got to figure it out,” the Texas head coach said of watching his team struggle in the first half to Texas Southern. “We’ve talked enough about it. … They’ve got to do it.”

Despite Texas Southern’s first-half run putting the Tigers in position for an upset, the No. 5 Longhorns regrouped after the break to finish out a 88-72 victory thanks largely to a halftime turnaround.

After a Michael Drewy dunk gave Texas Southern a five-point lead with a little over two minutes lefts in the first half, Longhorn freshman Varez Ward scored six straight points, including a three at the buzzer, his first career three-pointer, to give Texas a 35-34 lead heading into halftime.

“Everybody was focusing on A.J.,” Ward said. “I was just ready.”

Texas rode that momentum and looked like a different team in the second half. The Longhorns scored 53 in the half, their highest scoring half of the season, topping the 43 they scored against Texas State Saturday.

The half included an empathic dunk in traffic from Dexter Pittman, a fast break dunk from Damion James, a one-handed playground layup from Justin Mason

“With about 16 minutes left in the second half our intensity really went to another level,” Barnes said.

A.J. Abrams put up 16 points in the second to finish with a game-high 27, his fourth straight game with over 25 points. Pittman finished with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half.

“I wanted limit Dexter Pittman,” Texas Southern head coach Tony Harvey said. “I knew he was capable of having a big game because of how physical he is.”

Pittman’s 19 points and 24 minutes were both career-highs and gave him the second back-to-back double-digit scoring effort of his career after he put up 17 against Texas State.

“We’re all watching him mature right in front of us,” Barnes said. “People are going to have to deal with him.”

The second-half offensive outburst put the game in Texas’ favor, but the first half kept the Tigers close.

Texas Southern’s transition game proved a problem for Texas as the Tigers recorded six fast break points in the half. Texas Southern out rebounded the Longhorns 20-12 in the half, including 9-3 on the offensive glass that led to seven second-chance points.

“Some of the mistakes that they’re making are still being made by the same guys,” Barnes said. “I look at our team right now and I don’t even think we are anywhere near as good of a basketball team we could be. At some point and time, it’s got to come together.”

- Colby White, Daily Texan Staff

With no wins over a current top-25 team and a tough Big 12 schedule on the horizon, Texas was looking for a big-name win to hang their hat on.

It doesn’t get any more big-name than the defending champs.

After a back-and-forth first half, No. 6 Texas (9-0) pulled away from No. 7 Tennessee (7-2) in the second on their way to a 73-59 victory thanks to double-digit scoring nights from four different Longhorns.

“We’ve been waiting for a game like this,” Texas guard Brittainey Raven said. “We’ve worked hard for this.”

The Longhorns started out the game shooting four-for-five from the field, but shot five-for-26 the rest of the half. An 11-for-14 mark from the free throw line kept Texas on top throughout the half as Tennessee stayed within striking distance in order to head into halftime tied 31-31.

“We withstood their runs and then we’d make a run of our own,” Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors said.

After shooting 29 percent in the first half, Texas stepped up their offense shooting 44 percent in the second. Midway through the half, back-to-back threes from Brittainey Raven and Kathleen Nash continued a 10-1 run that put the Longhorns up nine points.

“Our whole flow on offense really changed in the second half,” Nash said.

Raven finished with a game-high 21 points while Nash chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds. Carla Cortijo and Ashley Lindsey both added 11 points.

Foul trouble proved to be a problem for Tennessee all game. Two players were charged with two or more fouls in the first half, including three each to Glory Johnson, the team’s leading scorer coming into the game, and Angie Bjorklund, who eventually fouled out. Johnson recorded two of her fouls in the first two minutes of the game and was forced to play only three minutes in the half in which she took no shots and managed only one steal.

Johnson looked to make up for lost time early in the second half, scoring nine of the Lady Vols’ first 11 points and tallying four rebounds during the stretch. The freshman would finish with 13 points and nine rebounds, both team-highs.

“I just had to play smarter,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t as physical.”

Despite Johnson’s second half, Texas took advantage of 10 Tennessee turnovers in the half to break open the game, avenging last season’s 92-67 loss to the Lady Vols in Knoxville.

“It’s night and day,” Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt said when comparing the Texas of last year to now. “They’re playing really tough on the defensive end. … It’s tremendous difference from a year ago.”

The win pushes Texas to 9-0, their best start since the 1987 campaign where they earned a trip to the Final Four.

“We are going to be a national power and a team to always be reckoned with,” Goestenkors said of her team’s status.

- Colby White, Daily Texan Staff

Despite falling behind early in the game, a fast-breaking Texas State squad stayed competitive against No. 6 Texas, keeping the score close until a drought in the last five minutes sealed an 81-73 victory for the Longhorns.

After the initial surge to open the game up put the Longhorns up 10-0, the Texas offense fell into a rut. As Texas State’s Brent Benson scored 10 straight points in the middle of the first half, the Longhorns struggled to respond, missing nine straight field goals including four layups.

“We knew we had to get stops,” Benson said of the run. “We knew we could run on [Texas] and get some transition baskets.”

Benson’s run gave the Bobcats their first lead and kept the game from slipping away.

“He didn’t come in here to put on a good show,” Texas State head coach Doug Davalos said of Benson. “He came here to get a win.”

The Texas offense relied on A.J. Abrams and Dexter Pittman early as they combined to score 15 of the team’s first 17 points. Abrams finished the day with 30 points while Pittman had a break-out game, recording his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs.

“I think our guys are starting to realize what we’ve been telling them,” Texas head coach Rick Barnes said. “Dexter is a force.”

The Bobcats were within four at halftime and stayed in the game throughout the second half, thanks largely to a 16-point half by forward Cameron Johnson, who finished with a team-high 26 points.

With under five minutes left to play and still down four, the Texas State offense sputtered, shooting one-for-eight during the closing moments. Texas hit 11 free throws during the stretch to ice a Texas win.

The struggles early in the game were uncharacteristic of Texas, who finished shooting 36 percent from the floor, 10 below their season average.

“I don’t think there’s any question there were some guys who weren’t ready to play,” Barnes said. “We went up 10-0 and then got stagnant.”

- Colby White, Daily Texan Staff

Set 3–Texas 25 vs. Lamar 8

Out of the set break Lamar would take the first point, but Jennifer Doris would respond with a kill to even the score at 1-1. Helped by a bushel of Lamar errors Texas would go on a 6-0 run. Lamar would respond with a 2-0 run of their own, but an attack error followed by a Juliann Faucette block would kill their momentum. Doris would follow with a second-straight Texas block and force a Lamar timeout. Texas 10-Lamar 3

Lamar would take the first point out of their timeout, but Destinee Hooker would add a kill, followed by an Ashley Engle kill to extend the Texas lead to 12-4. A huge Faucette kill would push the lead further, which Texas would continue to stretch, all the way to 21-5. Jennifer Doris would smash a kill from the middle to end the match 25-8.

Set 2–Texas 25 vs. Lamar 14

Texas came out quickly in the second set, taking the first two points, before a Longhorn service error gave Lamar a point. But Texas would bounce back, Juliann Faucette would add her sixth kill of the match, followed by an Ashley Engle kill that extended the Texas lead to 5-2.

Destinee Hooker would glide from the back row for a tap of a kill that extended the Texas lead to 7-2. Engle would add a huge smash to extend the lead to 8-2 and force a Lamar timeout.

Texas would extend their lead to 9-3, but Lauren Holdorff would respond with a kill for Lamar. Faucette would see that once again the Lamar run wouldn’t take  wings, smashing yet another kill. Hooker would steal a set that snuck away from the Lamar setter, and follow that up with a two handed kill to extend the Texas lead to 13-4. Hooker would rise up from the middle for a huge block forcing another Lamar timeout.

Holdorff would respond out of the timeout with another kill, but again Lamar couldn’t get a run going. Hooker would add two straight kills–one a high reaching laser, the other a floater over the Lamar front line–but each helped extend the Texas lead to 18-6.

Holdroff would give Lamar another kill, and the Cardinals would respond with a huge deflection of a Hooker attack followed by a Shalayne Blythe kill. But it wouldn’t be enough, and Hooker responded yet again with another kill. Hooker was then caught with a net violation, spotting Lamar a point , but a Meagan Adams service error ended another chance at a Lamar run. Faucette would follow with another kill, and after a Lamar kill, Faucette would sneak a tear-drop over the Lamar front line.

Adrianne Meengs would give Lamar a service ace, but Texas responded and closed out the set 25-14.

Set 1–Texas 25 vs. Lamar 17

No. 1 seed Texas run to the Final Four started with their first round match up against Lamar. For the Longhorns, No. 3 in the nation, the start wasn’t nearly what they expected.

Lamar took lead a 9-7 lead forcing coach Jerrittt Elliott to call an early time out.

Out of the timeout Texas responded with a kill, but Lamar went on a 2-0 run to stretch their lead to 11-9. Texas would rattle off a run of their own to take a 15-12. Lamar would add another point and Texas would go on a 4-0 run forcing a Lamar timeout.

Juliann Faucette smashed a Texas kill, and a Lamar attack error coupled with a Lauren Paolini kill would extend the Texas lead to 22-14. Lamar would rally back with another 2-0 run, but Faucette killed the comeback with another kill. Paolini looped from her middle position to hit a cross court kill, to bring the Longhorns to set point. Lamar would take the next point, but a Destinee Hooker kill ended the set. Texas 25 vs. Lamar 17