Texas coach Vic Schaefer wasn’t happy that the Longhorns were playing the South Carolina women’s basketball team right after the LSU game.
Coach Dawn Staley and No. 2 South Carolina (17-1, 4-0 SEC) host No. 4 Texas (18-1, 3-1) on Jan. 15 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
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Texas beat South Carolina 66-64 on Thanksgiving in Las Vegas for their only loss. On January 11, Texas lost to LSU 70-65, its first loss of the season. With the win, LSU jumped from No. 12 to No. 6.
Schafer had some harsh words for the SEC after the loss to LSU.
“They obviously have a vendetta against Texas because not only did we start in the league, but I played South Carolina twice last year and I played LSU twice this year,” Shafer said. “I got to play South Carolina and LSU on the road this year. I played them back-to-back in the same week. Now, that makes sense.
“The league is hard enough as it is, but bless me, me and my team, it does have a stench… I’m very disappointed in the league for putting our kids in this position, but we’ll play whoever comes in front of us.”
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The Longhorns opened the SEC season with back-to-back home wins over No. 17 Ole Miss before traveling to Baton Rouge to face unranked Auburn.
Longhorns forward Madison Booker scored 24 points and center Kayla Odeck had 16 points and 16 rebounds. Senior guard Rori Harmon, who is usually nearly unstoppable when on the court with Booker, only scored two points in the game and was benched in the fourth quarter.
“They were tougher than us today. It was our worst performance of the year,” Shafer said.
Schaefer said playing in the SEC can be difficult, claiming it’s been “one monster after another.” He said that’s what he signed up for, and after eight seasons as Mississippi State’s coach, he understands how tough it can be. However, he was uneasy about the SEC’s schedule and revealed he was waiting for someone from Texas to comment on it.
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“Unless someone in my college stands up and says, ‘Hey, what the hell is going on here?’ no one does anything, and that’s my frustration,” Shafer said.
“A lot of times it’s us against the world and we have to accept that.”
This article originally appeared in The Greenville News: Texas coach slams SEC over back-to-back games at LSU and South Carolina
