The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Coppin State
Gibson's 17 points help Men's Basketball cruise past Coppin State
11.29.2004 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Freshman Daniel Gibson scored 17 points and Texas (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) used a barrage of 3-pointers to coast to an 86-50 victory over Coppin State on Monday night.
Texas (4-1) has hit at least 10 3-pointers in all its games this season and nearly reached that mark in the first half, getting nine against the Eagles (0-3). The Longhorns hit 16 total, two shy of the school record.
Darryl Proctor led Coppin State with 11 points.
The Longhorns came in shooting 48 percent from beyond the arc and went 9-of-14 (64 percent) before halftime.
Kenny Taylor hit four 3-pointers in the half and Gibson added three. The Longhorns hit their first five attempts against the Eagles' zone defense and eight of their first 12 baskets came from long range.
Gibson, Taylor and Sydmill Harris each hit 3-pointers in a 12-3 run that gave Texas a 35-18 lead. Taylor even banked one in from about 25 feet.
Only a brief dry spell in the opening minutes of the second half kept Texas from breaking the school record for 3-pointers in a game, set in 1997 in the wild-shooting offenses of former coach Tom Penders.
It didn't last long.
After Harris had a steal and dunk, his first slam in his four-year career, Gibson and Kenton Paulino combined to hit three more 3-pointers to open a 58-34 lead.
The Longhorns have been scoring in bunches all season and Monday night was more of the same. At least four Longhorns have reached double figures in all five games. Against the Eagles, it was Gibson, Taylor (14), Paulino (13) and Jason Klotz (11).
Klotz, a 6-foot-9 center, hit the double-figure mark when he stepped out to hit a long 3-pointer of his own.
The game was only the second meeting between the schools. The last was in 1997, when Coppin State gave the Longhorns a huge scare in the second round of the 1997 NCAA tournament before Texas pulled out an 82-81 win.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Rick Barnes
ON TONIGHT'S DEFENSE: Sydmill Harris was terrific tonight. He's been consistent and we can always count on him to shut down the other team's best player. Jason Klotz played outstanding defense as well. His effort was overshadowed by turnovers, but he did a really nice job helping his teammates and rebounding.
ON THE OFFENSE: We practice shooting from long range so our guys are confident and have deep range. We have four guys on our team who are actually surprised when they miss. We want our guys to stay aggressive, but if we do that, we need to get better from the free throw line.
Daniel Gibson, Freshman Guard
ON THREE POINTERS: We have a lot of great shooters. Guys played really unselfish and looked to make the extra pass. We had a lot of open looks from the outside. They were sagging on the inside and contesting shots. Guys were being patient and not taking the first shot.
ON HIS OWN SHOOTING RANGE: I just shoot it. Sometimes, I don't even know where my feet are. Coach never really gets on us about where the shots are from, he just wants us to take open shots.
Kenny Taylor, Senior Guard
ON THE TEAM'S UNSELFISHNESS: Everyone did a great job of knocking down shots. The whole team played unselfish. I would say we are a balanced team and I am looking forward to playing with these guys for the rest of the season.
ON OTHER TEAMS PLAYING ZONE:
"Opposing teams are going to have to look out for our outside shooting. Even our post men can knock down shots, but we aren't one dimensional either.
Coppin State Head Coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell
ON PLAYING TEXAS: Watching how athletic they (Texas) were, we chose to use zone. Knowing who to guard when their four and five man can shoot three-pointers is tough. Their point guards are quick, penetrate, and can shoot. They have weapons inside as well as outside. But I wasn't very happy with our battle. Texas wore us down mentally. Honestly, I can say that Texas is a quality basketball team.
ON GUARDING TEXAS: It is actually easy to do because we know that anybody Texas puts in can score. They have such a deep bench, so I didn't really focus on one player in particular.
