Texas Longhorns Earn High Praise From Illinois After Dominant Win
AUSTIN – As a member of the Big Ten, the No. 8 Fighting Illini have now played three of the four No. 1 seeds, but the Texas Longhorns stood out. Illinois head coach Shauna Green had high praise for the Longhorns, stating that immediately after the game, she and her staff discussed how Texas was the best team they’d seen all year.
Texas Head coach Vic Schafer said himself that he thinks this team has what it takes to win it all and is different than any other national championship-contending teams he’s coached.
A Big Ten team, Illinois has played USC and UCLA, two of the favorites to win the national championship. But after losing to Texas, Green and her staff had high praise for the Longhorns.
“It’s funny, because I was, you know, I was thinking that coming into it now, after feeling them and, you know, seeing it live, and seeing that defense,” Green said. “And then actually, (when) we walked back and our staff, we were talking, I said, You think Texas can win it all? And we all said, Yeah, I do.”
Green spoke to how Texas plays defense and how that takes you out of your game more than anything USC or UCLA does as a team. Schaefer prides himself on his defense, and his team has often held top-scoring teams to well below their season averages of points.
The Longhorns forced 20 turnovers, almost double of what the Illini usually have.
“They have the guard play, they have the size, the pressures, it’s just different, because even, UCLA and USC, their size was the same, but they don’t pressure you as much as what Texas does, which for a team, it just takes you out of your rhythm, makes you think a little bit more,” Green said. “You can’t run your stuff as freely. And obviously, when you do that, that’s that’s a game changer. So I have nothing but respect for Texas, and I think they can go very, very far in this thing. No doubt about it.”
Schaefer agreed with Green’s sentiment, and having coached NCAA Championship caliber teams before, acknowledged that this team is special. This team has depth and when all levels of his team are playing well, he knows that the Longhorns are unstoppable.
The Longhorns have won some historic matchups this season, playing well in close games and have won six top-10 games, including beating South Carolina in the regular season, something that hadn’t been done in over three years.
“I like the depth of my guards, and I love the size that I have inside,” Schaefer said. “And you know, if we can get half of what we got from Ndjakalenga (Mwenentanda) today at the four, we’re just a different team.”
Against Illinois, Mwenentanda had a career day, scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds off the bench. Sophomore guard Madison Booker led all scorers with 20 points, and the freshmen were able to provide depth off the bench.
While Schaefer said that he has to stop himself from expecting perfection from his team, he added that he knows that’s an unrealistic expectation, but he is not the only one who has high expectations.
“We obviously have an unbelievable All-American, Madison Booker, I mean, you saw it today,” Schaefer said. “She is special, and then when you can go down there and add Taylor (Jones) and (Kyla Oldacre), not many people have that. This is a team that I have a ton of confidence in and I just want it so bad for them. I have to catch myself sometimes because I want them to be perfect and it ain’t gonna happen.”
But before the Longhorns can think about the national championship, they have to face Tennessee in the Sweet 16. Before their regular-season matchup, Schaefer called the Volunteers ultra-talented. The Longhorns were victorious on their home floor but will head to Birmingham to play the Volunteers for a spot in the Elite Eight, looking to return for the second year in a row.
The game against the fifth-seeded Volunteers will be on Saturday, Mar. 29 at 2:30 p.m. and be aired on ABC.
