Trying to get his team back on track after a blowout loss to Duke, Texas coach Rick Barnes got an assist — what else? — from former All-America point guard T.J. Ford.

Barnes was in the airport when his phone rang, and Ford was on the other end.

“He said, ‘Put Daniel (Gibson) on the phone,’ and he spent 20 minutes talking to him,” Barnes said Monday.

Barnes isn’t sure what Ford told his sophomore point guard, but he’s glad to have the help. Barnes has watched the tape of the loss over and over again. On Monday, he left another viewing to participate in the Big 12 Conference coaches’ teleconference.

“Every time I watch it, I get a little bit more mad about it,” Barnes said.

“I’ve watched us lose five times now by 30 points.”

Barnes said he could have been partially to blame for not stressing to players how physical they need to play, but he thought his players worked harder in practice than during Saturday’s game.

“Duke was good but we helped them be really good because of our poor shot selection, the fact that we didn’t play with the type of defensive intensity we have to, the fact that we didn’t have the kind of overall leadership we’ve got to have,” Barnes said.

“All of that stuff — everything that I can talk to you about — can all be fixed.”

Asked whether he thought his team would be getting mad like he was, Barnes said: “By the time I’m done with them, yeah.”

Sampson’s subs

Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said he thought he was “guilty” of substituting players too much during the Sooners’ 57-47 victory against Coppin State on Saturday.

“Sometimes you substitute your chemistry away or you substitute your momentum away and then kids start feeding off the way you’re substituting,” Sampson said.

“They may say, ‘Well, coach just wants to work on this or that.”‘

Sampson said he learned from Dean Smith, college basketball’s all-time wins leader, that you have to build depth early in the season or it won’t be there later. And so, he was experimenting.

“That’s what I think these December games are for,” Sampson said. “In about a week or two, you better have a clear understanding of which direction you want to go, and who can play and who can’t.”

Curry’s collapse

Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton said he thought sophomore JamesOn Curry probably had been pressing during a recent 8-for-33 shooting slump.

The only returning starter from a Cowboys team that went to the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16 last season, Curry was held scoreless in Oklahoma State’s 68-64 loss to Northwestern (La.) State.

After shooting 47 percent last season, he’s made only 35 of his first 100 shots this season.

“I think that can happen to any young player,” Sutton said. “You’ve got to remember last year he was surrounded by a lot of veterans.”

Baylor’s build-up

Assistant coach Matt Driscoll said Baylor — which won’t play a game until Jan. 11 because of NCAA sanctions — has been trying to mix up its work between practices, weight lifting and shooting work.

“We think it’s worked well for us, but obviously time will tell,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll said the Bears were thrilled with their incoming class of six freshmen.