I have a long-lasting love affair with music. I know everybody ‘loves’ music, and most people have a favorite band and/or DJ, but there are strata to music love and it bears delving into. Most people enjoy music; whether it’s teenagers coming into their own through the popular band of their time (U2 for the generation before me, Pearl Jam for my generation, Kanye and/or Taylor Swift of the generation after mine, as a random few examples) or those who go headlong into the music they love like I did, loving music and loving music are a line of delineation that tends to segment our generations as the inexorable march of times goes on.

For those who are unaware, I was a club/rave DJ back in the day. I played both techno and Drum’n’Bass for many years, with a sprinkling of other electronic genres mixed in for good measure. A cohort of mine and I had a mix show on KVRX for a couple of years, and I played clubs & raves around the southwest region for the better part of 15 years. Why am I bringing this up? Because of this:

I was dealing with some pretty significant DVR issues during this game. This wasn’t my only issue. As a point of reference, one pre-reboot recording ended with 42-35 Baylor and the other post-reboot recording started at 51-41 Baylor — and my answer was to put on the headphones and listen to mix sets from my favorite DJs while watching the game. Why am I bringing this to your attention? Because I understand the power of music to affect my perception of real-time events. Whether it’s my long runs — where a Random Movement set does wonders — or watching games, I know that a 170+ bpm Wilkinson set will get me amped enough that I’m willing to consider Texas is able to make a comeback even when it might not be that likely. I understand that a Speedy J set will get me ready to run through a wall even if no wall exists. I may spend this entire tape convincing myself that Texas has plenty in the tank for the Big 12 Tournament....it doesn’t, but let me have a moment. So as much as I’d love to think turning off the announcers would mute my bias, the reality is that listening to mixsets during the game only enhances it. I get amped by music more than anything Fran Fraschilla screams in my ear, it’s how I operate. So, yea, maybe I should watch the game on mute. In a dark room. Inside a sensory deprivation chamber. That might get me to the level of objectivity I need....or maybe it only enhances the Clockwork Orange nature of this season. Who knows.

The Good

Jarrett Allen

The only thing that’s realistically limiting Allen from being a 15/10 guy every game is the guard play; he’s a monster inside the paint, and that’s with him having the strength of a freshman. If he comes back as a sophomore, he’s going to be a terror for the entire country to deal with. Right now, we’re at the point in ‘The Blob’ where the amorphous substance has broken containment, but it has yet to reach the city limits. If Allen is here next year, he will absorb the Big 12 by himself. It’s entirely possible I’m drunk on potential and tequila — OK, mostly tequila — but Allen is already playing at an all-Big 12 level and he can still lose a bench press competition to some of the women’s team. Give him an off-season with Roose (and the women’s team) and he will be a bull in a china shop, if the bull could hit threes at a 25-30% rate.

I’ll leave you with this:

Dear Matt Coleman: do more of that.

Shaquille Cleare

The last home game for Shaq showcased him in the most accurate way: effective within 10 feet on the offensive end, grabbing rebounds against a zone, and unable to guard more athletic bigs. I will miss Shaq when he’s gone; he was the hammer Texas needed, even if it didn’t remember to bring the nails to enough games to utilize him properly. 14 points on Senior Night is a good way to go out for the Maryland transfer.

Andrew Jones

Jones had SEVEN(?!?) assists to ZERO(?!?) turnovers tonight, which was crazy enough I checked two different sites. Then I realize the same box score credited him with THREE BLOCKS, which made me check another two sites to make sure it was accurate. Jones didn’t have a great shooting night, but it wasn’t awful and he made his impact in damn-near every other way he could. Case in point:

He didn’t make the layup, but Allen followed it and dunked it home. I’d like another season of them at Texas, particularly when paired with a point guard worth a damn. Would you? Yes, yes you would.

Kendal Yancy

Senior night was a good place to showcase the intangibles of Yancy, who played 36 minutes without making a huge impact to the stat line but was a generally steadying presence for a team that could always use some baseline smarts. Yancy likely has one game left in the burnt orange, and I really wish he could be around next season to participate in the turnaround of the program. Guys like him have a valuable role to play in any successful program, and he will be missed.

The Mixed Bag

Revolver Blood & Honey

Pro: Blood & Honey is one of the best beers available in Texas these days. It’s light enough that it won’t murder your colon like a stout, but tasty enough it won’t run through you like everything MillerCoors has invented.

Con: Revolver was bought by MillerCoors (oh noes!), so it’s inevitable this wonderful formula will be diluted to the point it might as well be Miller Lite Lime-a-rita mixed with the taste of Scott Drew’s taint after he finishes convincing the Waco PD not to press charges against David Koresh Jr., the latest in Scott Drew’s line of ironic 3-point snipers.

The Bad

Eric Davis Jr.

Davis leads my list of potential off-season transfers, as he seems to need a fresh start and there are a couple of incoming freshmen that might usurp him next season. If he’s going to make a move, this off-season would be his best bet. I don’t want to see him leave and would be happy to see the freshman Eric Davis reappear next season, but I could understand why he’d make the move. Tonight was not a good showcase for him, but he’s good enough to contribute at a high-major D-I team.

Kerwin Roach Jr.

You can’t be the lead PG and have zero assists, that’s just not acceptable. Roach has otherworldly athleticism and next season could be the year the light turns on, but his chance at claiming the lead PG spot has come and gone. He needs to maximize his chance next year of playing off the ball, because it’s where his incredible abilities are on display. I hope he embraces the change next year; he seems like a guy that wants to help the team, so I expect he will do his best to be a positive force.

Team Rebounding

When you get out-rebounded by 16 against a zone defense, you suck at rebounding. I know Johnathon Motley is a rebounding stud, but Baylor as a team rebounded nearly 56% of their offensive rebounding opportunities and Texas was playing man defense more often than not. Some of this can be chalked up to Baylor’s length, but Texas wasn’t up to the task today. Maybe this is a good time to text Bamba and point out how much he might help on the glass, because holy hell Texas needs some bigs that want to see ball get ball.

The regular season is over. THANK JEBUS, the regular season is over. Texas has locked up that wonderful 10th seed in the Big 12 tournament, virtually guaranteeing if they make it out of the first round (hold your breath!) they will face....West Virginia. They’re on the other side of the bracket as Kansas? Soooo, yea. Texas plays Texas Tech on Wednesday at ~8 PM CT on ESPNU depending on when the TCU/OU game ends. I’ve already gone on record as saying if Texas makes a run to the Big 12 Tournament Finals, I’ll live-tweet it on whatever substance Barking Carnival expenses, so if for no other reason than allowing everybody some hilarity maybe we should root for a post-season run. Plus, it would be hilarious to see the Big 12 champion enter March Madness as a 13-seed.

BWG’s listening tunes provided by Wilkinson.

BWG’s writing tunes provided by Chus and Ceballos.