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Already reeling Texas indefinitely suspends its leading scorer

Tevin Mack was suspended entering the Longhorns' toughest stretch of the season (AP).
Tevin Mack was suspended entering the Longhorns’ toughest stretch of the season (AP).

A nightmarish season for Texas basketball somehow got worse Thursday when the Longhorns learned they’ll enter their toughest three-game stretch without their leading scorer.

Sophomore forward Tevin Mack has been suspended indefinitely for an undisclosed violation of team rules, Texas coach Shaka Smart announced.

“We have a set of standards that we expect people in our program to adhere to,” Smart said in a terse statement. “Tevin has failed to reach them.”

Mack’s suspension is his second of the season. When Mack was suspended for Texas’ season opener in November, Smart described it as a punishment for an off-court issue that occurred during the offseason but was already resolved.

A role player as a freshman, Mack has evolved into an inconsistent yet dangerous scorer on a Texas team that has floundered on offense so far this season. One night he’ll knock down a handful of threes and exceed his season average of 14.8 points by halftime. The next he’ll be held to just a single basket or two.

The timing of Mack’s suspension is about as bad as it could be.

Texas is already reeling from four losses in its past five games culminating with Wednesday night’s 64-61 home loss to TCU. The Longhorns are about to play three straight games against West Virginia, Baylor and Kansas, the Big 12’s three best teams.

Even if Mack returns soon, it may be too late to salvage anything from this season for Texas. At 7-9 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play, the Longhorns would have to reel off a heck of a winning streak to get back into postseason contention.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!