Really Big Monday for 'Horns

The Texas Longhorns basketball team was in dire straits last night with LaMarcus Aldridge out, P.J. Tucker in academic limbo, a falling national ranking, and Oklahoma State coming to town. So how do the Horns respond? By rolling over the 5th ranked Cowboys 75-61 in front of a national TV audience. Point guard Daniel Gibson had a career high 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and basically outplayed his opposite number, John Lucas. What is interesting is that Texas played most of the second half in a stifling zone defense that crippled the Cowboys' offense. (Nice to know someone else in the Big XII besides Texas Tech is having trouble running zone offense!). Rare was the play in the second half where OSU made an outside shot, and all of those were with a hand in the shooter's face.

Will this be a game that exposes the weaknesses of Oklahoma State? Possibly, but we need to see them play another team that plays a heavy amount of zone defense to be sure. OSU needs to regroup quickly because they have Texas A&M, who already took down Texas at home, on Wednesday.

Texas is not out of the woods either. P.J. Tucker, a key contributor in Texas's victory last night, is going to hear today whether or not his grades will let him continue this season. Aldridge will know by Wednesday whether his hip injury is season-ending. (The Austin American-Statesman's Kirk Bohls wrote an article detailing the Horns' potential losses) We'll see if Daniel Gibson can handle the load.

Quick Hits

• While the year for Celtics GM Danny Ainge has been less than spectacular, it's been great for his family. Son Austin Ainge is starting in the backcourt for BYU (Danny's alma mater). Nephew Erik Ainge saw significant time at quarterback for Tennessee.
• The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Randy Galloway suggests that the only problems with Philly should be their past demons(subscription req'd). I disagree. Mike Vick is a pretty big problem for an agressive defense like theirs.
• TSN (Canada's ESPN) and the Canadian Press are reporting that an extended NHL lockout could be the end of a career for some prominent NHL veterans.
• In a move that may signal the end of the West Coast offense in its San Francisco home, Ravens' defensive coordinator Mike Nolan was hired to coach the 49ers.
• The Ravens weren't done shuffling their coaching staff either, Jim Fassel was promoted from consultant to offensive coordinator and disgraced former Washington and Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel was named quarterbacks coach.
• Interesting fact about Neuheisel: He was 3-0 as a scab quarterback for the San Diego Chargers during the NFL's 1987 players' strike.

Tomorrow: Still up in the air.