Texas coach Vic Schaefer isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, even about his own team.
“Quite frankly, we had no heart,” Schaefer said after the Longhorns lost, 86-70, to No. 5 Vanderbilt on Thursday, Feb. 12.
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“You wanna ask me what does it take to win at this level? What’s it gonna take for my team? You gotta have heart. We got no heart.”
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On Thursday, Schaefer’s Longhorns found themselves down by as many as 27 points against the Commodores after a rough shooting night. Texas shot 38% from the field, and its usual perimeter production disappeared. The Longhorns (23-3, 8-3) only made three shots from beyond the arc to the Commodores’ nine.
The nation’s leading scorer, Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes, had 34 points against Texas. Additionally, three more players finished in double figures, including star freshman Aubrey Galvan, who had 18 points. Texas cut Vanderbilt’s lead down to 11 late in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
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“I’m fixing to go call my (athletic director) and tell him I’m embarrassed. I’m sorry because I am. That’s not the way you represent the University of Texas,” Schaefer said.
“I wear it. I’m accountable. That’s my team, but it’s so disappointing. It’s probably the softest team I’ve had in years. I think that’s what’s hard. When you come to a place like Texas, and you come to a program like Texas, you come, and you want to be a part of that, but you have to be an active participant in that. You can’t come ride the coattails …”
Texas’ loss to Vanderbilt could impact its NCAA tournament seeding. The Commodores (24-2, 10-2) have six Quad 1 wins after beating the Longhorns. That’s just as many as other top teams, like No.1 UConn and No. 3 South Carolina. There are enough games left for Vanderbilt to potentially pull ahead of Texas.
At minimum, the loss currently puts Texas as the fourth No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. A Nov. 26 nonconference win over UCLA should work in the Longhorns’ favor, but if the Commodores make a run to the SEC tournament title game, a No. 1 seed might belong to Vanderbilt.
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Following his news conference, Schaefer continued lamenting about his team, but vowed to fix it.
“It is a lonely, lonely feeling when you’re out there having to coach heart. And you don’t do that at Texas. It’s real easy. You’re either coaching it or allowing it. I’ll fix it. I promise you. But I ain’t never had a team that don’t show up with their heart,” Schaefer said.
“We had no heart tonight. We had no toughness. No competitive spirit. We’re soft. We were whining. Complaining, but no toughness. So you know what? I’ve been doing this a while. I bet I’ll fix it.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer blasts team after Vanderbilt loss
