Puzzling Team: Longhorns were 17-0 at one point but have struggled mightily since mid-January

If there's a team in the NCAA Tournament with as much to prove as Wake Forest, it would be the Deacons' first-round opponent, Texas.

No team was riding higher in mid-January, when the Longhorns were ranked No. 1 in the nation at 17-0. And no team, not even Wake Forest, has fallen further since by losing nine of the last 16.

Seeded sixth in the Big 12 Tournament, the Longhorns suffered a fate similar to the one the Deacons suffered in the ACC Tournament. They were drilled 86-67 by Baylor, with two of their best players, Damion James and Dexter Pittman, fouling out.

James expedited his exit by picking up a technical foul, one of two whistled against Texas. Afterward Coach Rick Barnes, a native of Hickory who was Clemson's head coach from 1994-95 through 1997-98, used the term baffling to describe his team's performance.

"What I meant by that was our preparation with our guys has been good all year," Barnes clarified Monday. "There's not a game that we haven't gone in as a staff feeling good about our preparation and the way those guys went about their business coming in. So for us to go out and fall into a situation where we go four or five minutes where we just come a little bit unraveled at this time of year, that's the part that baffles you a little bit.

"Because I do know that we've got a good group of guys that have worked hard. And we all know the issues that we've had to deal with and worked through, and we also know we've had a lot of growth in a lot of areas. But it's just at this point in time I don't think we should be going through (this)."

Barnes' challenge has been to blend the talents of freshman guards Avery Bradley, J'Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton with those of seniors James and Pittman and juniors Dogus Balbay and Gary Johnson. It hasn't always been easy, as evidenced by the fact that the Longhorns rank 11th in the Big 12 with 459 turnovers and eighth with a turnover-margin of plus 1.12.

Bradley has 70 assists and 52 turnovers. Brown has 22 assists and 41 turnovers. Hamilton has 49 assists and 46 turnovers.

Balbay, despite averaging 3.8 points, is the team's best ball-handler with 106 assists and 43 turnovers.

The Longhorns shoot 47 percent from the floor, 35 percent from 3-point range and a conference-low 63 percent from the free-throw line. They lead the Big 12 with a rebounding margin of plus 6.8 and rank third with a field-goal-percentage defense of 40.2.

"What I mean, too, is we'll be doing something really, really well, and I don't know why we go away from it," Barnes said. "And once we go away from it, it seems we compound it real quick before we can get back to it.

"That's the thing that we keep talking about and trying to get our guys to understand working the game."

James is one of the most decorated players in Texas basketball history, a 6-7 wing who holds the Big 12 record for rebounds in a career. He's averaging a team-high 18 points and 10.4 rebounds and shooting 51 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3-point range and 67 percent from the foul line.

"Damion is and always has been one of those guys who will go in and do the dirty work," Barnes said. "That's where it shows up in him being the all-time leading rebounder, not only here but in the Big 12.

"But he has continued to grow and mature. In his game and off the court as a student, I can't even begin to describe to you how hard and how much he has worked to improve in those areas."

The comments made in Austin leading into the tournament were almost verbatim to comments in Winston-Salem. They're comments invariably spoken by teams with something to prove.

Barnes and Coach Dino Gaudio of the Deacons remain convinced that there's nothing wrong with their teams that one good performance wouldn't cure.

"I think kids are resilient," Barnes said. "I think they can bounce back. I think the exciting thing about this time of year is obviously the tournament and the fact that March Madness is what it is. You've got to feel good about, one, being a part of it. You've got to feel good about the excitement of it.

"I think in one game, momentum can swing quickly. We've seen it happen. We see teams come into it, and they're down and out, and they catch it and they just kind of ride the wave with it. And there are other teams that come in with a lot of pressure on them and maybe not play to win as opposed to just trying to keep from losing.

"And those are the teams that can get bitten a little bit. So I do think this is a time of year where one game here or there, or one play here or there can really swing it."