Big 12: How Will The Isaiah Taylor Injury Affect Texas?

Just when things seemed to be on the up-and-up for the No. 10 Texas Longhorns after cruising past each of their first three opponents, the injury bug struck Rick Barnes’ squad and it couldn’t have affected a more pivotal player than sophomore point guard, Isaiah Taylor.

Taylor suffered an injury to his left wrist late in Texas’ matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2K Classic after a flagrant 2 foul came after an overaggressive pursuit for a block by Iowa’s Gabriel Olaseni, which led to his ejection.

Taylor initially got up and played through the pain before attempting his free throws, but rumor has it that the Longhorns’ star may be out a little longer than desired.

This according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN:

Of course, it’s never a positive when your leading scorer and floor general goes down for an extended period of time, but for Texas, this might have actually been the most suitable time to go for a stretch without a key contributor.

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Texas went on to another double-digit victory in their first game without Taylor after a 71-55 effort over California for the 2K Classic Championship, but his absence was clearly evident as the Longhorns went numerous stretches where they struggled to find offensive production.

For the Longhorns, the competition isn’t expected to be too stiff over the next four to five weeks while Taylor recovers. Two of Texas’ next four games will be against the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies and the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats.

Texas should be able to still overmatch UConn with their interior size and depth, but to even consider Rick Barnes’ club could go blow-for-blow with the platoons of Kentucky in Rupp Arena without their leading scorer is an extreme stretch.

Luckily for Texas, nobody will shun them if they fall to the top-ranked team in the country and that should be Texas’ only loss until Taylor’s return, assuming the Longhorns are still deep enough to top UConn.

But outside of those two games, Texas will see St. Francis, Texas State, Lipscomb, Long Beach State, Stanford and Rice before conference play kicks in at the beginning of 2015.

This means, for the most part, that Texas shouldn’t see too much of a hangover from the Taylor injury, especially considering the only loss they will likely have would come at Kentucky.

So from a record standpoint, Texas shouldn’t suffer too much, at least assuming the injury doesn’t linger on into conference play, which could become problematic for the Horns.

For now, the biggest issue should be how long will Texas ultimately be without their star point guard and how will being without Taylor effect their team chemistry while he’s out and once he returns.

If I know Rick Barnes, he’ll make sure his guys are up to the task of staying among college basketball’s elite in the absence of Taylor. He’s got a 10-man rotation full of experience, talent and leadership and just like Texas would have been good without Myles Turner, they’ll be just fine for the time being without Taylor.

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