JUST NOT FAIR

AUSTIN — Rick Barnes sat calmly on the bench the entire game.

There really was no reason for him to get up. His second-ranked Texas Longhorns did their thing again and made the University of Texas men’s basketball team look as if it really had no business being on the same court.

Broncs coach Ryan Marks called the 2009-10 Longhorns the best team under Rick Barnes’ tenure. It was arguably the best team UTPA has played in years.

“Knowing that a couple guys are missing tonight, I think they are terrific now, but by the end of the season, I think they are going to be marvelous,” Marks said.

Texas was without J’Covan Brown and Shawn Williams and gave Avery Bradley extensive experience at the point for the first time this season. It didn’t matter.

UTPA has played Missouri, an Elite Eight team from last season, and Mississippi State, which was ranked in the top 20 to start the season. But nothing compared to Texas.

“You just want to go out there and try and be competitive with a team like that,” Weiermiller said. “It is UT, they are a tough team.

“Obviously, they are superior athletes to us. They are bigger and faster guys. For us to win there were so many things that had to go right for us. Those things didn’t go our way.”

Weiermiller would be surprised if he wasn’t watching the Longhorns in the Final Four again.

“I know a lot of NCAA analysts would be shocked if they didn’t make it in there either,” Weiermiller said.

Texas improves to 9-0 with all wins coming by 15 or more points, including its 104-42 thumping of UTPA on Tuesday.

The scary thing is that Barnes is pushing for more improvement, especially on the boards. Texas, a much taller team, was expected to win the rebound battle Tuesday. The Longhorns, though, outrebounded the Broncs 64-31.

“For us it’s not about who we are playing and we’ve said that in every game that we have played this year,” Barnes said. “It is about what we are trying to build this team into. … The talent level is different, but in a game like this, we are trying to forget the score and play the game.”

Maybe No. 11 North Carolina and No. 12 Michigan will test their mettle during the next two games. As far as UTPA is concerned, the Longhorns were simply impressive.

“There is a reason why they are No. 2 in country,” Broncs post Luis Valera said. “We knew it was going to be tough for us. We tried.”

Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.