The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Tech
Men's Basketball downs Texas Tech for seventh straight victory
01.17.2006 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas -- LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead No. 5 Texas to a 80-46 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night.
Brad Buckman recovered from his latest leg injury to add 16 points and nine boards for Texas (15-2, 3-0 Big 12), which has won seven straight.
Texas has played stellar defense throughout its winning streak and used another superb effort to stifle the Red Raiders from the opening tip. Texas forced 19 turnovers and held Tech to 37 percent shooting.
Jarrius Jackson led the Red Raiders (10-8, 2-2) with 21 points. Tech coach Bob Knight is 2-8 against Texas in his five seasons with the Raiders.
The Longhorns built a big early lead by taking -- and making -- just about any shot they wanted.
Buckman, who has missed four games this season because of various hip, calf and ankle injures and had to leave in the first half of last Saturday's 58-55 win over Villanova, had 14 points and five rebounds in the first half against Tech. One of Texas' strongest post players, Buckman also stepped out to hit two 3-pointers.
With Buckman stretching the defense, P. J. Tucker had room to roam for any shot he could find against a Tech defense that struggled to find a defender who could match up with the burly forward. Tucker hit all six of his shots in the first half for 12 of his 16 points.
The Longhorns shot 55 percent in the first half. In one five-minute stretch, Buckman and Tucker combined for 13 points in a 15-6 Texas run that opened up a 26-13 lead.
Texas stretched the lead to 41-25 by halftime as Aldridge converted a 3-point play and followed it by soaring over the Tech defense to slam a rebound of a missed shot.
The Longhorns offense finally slowed at bit in the second. Tucker missed his first shot and the Longhorns scored just two points over the first five minutes. Not that it mattered much. Tech had five turnovers in that span.
That's when Texas started getting the ball to Aldridge, who toyed with the Red Raiders defense with his turnaround jumper and scored the Longhorns' first seven points of the half.
Kenton Paulino's 3-pointer made it 51-31 with 14 minutes to play. Tucker jammed a fast break and Daniel Gibson kept pouring it on with three consecutive 3-pointers that pushed the Texas lead to 30.
TEXAS GAME NOTES
Team Notes
- With the win, Texas is now in first place in the Big 12 with a 3-0 record after Iowa State defeated Nebraska, 88-75, tonight in Lincoln, Neb.
- Texas now leads the All-time series between the two schools, 63-52. UT has won the last 32 of the last 41 meetings.
- Texas has now won nine straight games against Texas Tech in the Erwin Center.
- The 34 points (80-46) was the largest margin of victory over Texas Tech since 1990, when UT defeated the Red Raiders 109-71 (+38) in Austin.
- During UT's current seven-game winning streak, the Horns have held their opponents to 52.6 ppg on 30.8% FG. All seven opponents have shot below 40% from the floor against Texas.
- Texas committed only 10 turnovers in the game, the fewest since recording only seven against Texas State.
- Texas has now won nine straight games against Texas Tech in the Erwin Center.
- Under head coach Rick Barnes, the Horns have posted a 60-5 (.923) record against in-state foes.
Individual Notes
LaMarcus Aldridge
- Aldridge tied a season high with two assists in the game.
- He finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in the game.
- He also made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe and is 43-of-59 (.729) in the last nine games.
Brad Buckman
- Buckman finished one rebound short of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds in the game.
- He tied his season high with a pair of three-pointers in the game. He finished 2-of-7 on the night from beyond the arch.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Texas Tech
Head Coach Bob Knight
General Comments: Texas was a really good team tonight, they always are. They impressed me in this game tonight, and I think they are as good as any team in this league. We made a lot of mistakes tonight, but they were forced mistakes from something Texas did against us.
On what was most impressive about Texas: How hard they played and how well they played together. We just got beat by a much better basketball team tonight.
Texas
Sophomore Forward LaMarcus Aldridge
On Texas' defense: Our defense has done a great job the last couple of games. I think that has been a big difference from our play in the beginning of the season. That allowed us to go in and get some good buckets tonight, so we just kept pounding them in.
On his big jam in the first half: I knew the clock was winding down and I just wanted to get the ball in. I was running to the glass, my guy came off me, and I saw it come right at me.
Junior Forward P.J. Tucker
On tonight's game: We came off with a nice lead, but we knew we had to stick to the fundamentals. We have worked really hard to remember to finish our games, all of our games. I think we did a good job of that tonight.
On the win over Texas Tech: Tech is a great team and they play great offense with lots of motion. I don't want to take anything away from them. We know we still have to go play them up in Lubbock in their environment. They can beat anyone there, so it's not over.
Senior Forward Brad Buckman
On being back with his teammates after several injuries: I was glad to be back on the court; I haven't played a full game in a while. My teammates have really been there for me. P.J. did a great job tonight and LaMarcus was killing down low. I am not the go-to option; we have got to get those guys the ball.
On his ankle: My ankle is feeling a lot better. I had it worked on right after Saturday's game and then again today. It is still a little stiff, but there is definitely no pain.
Head Coach Rick Barnes
On Brad Buckman's shooting: Brad can shoot the ball and he's really competitive. I told him not to play conservative tonight, but to work his way back into the game considering his injury. None of his shots were bad, but there were other options available. Brad's always going to give us everything he has every night because there isn't a selfish bone in his body.
On the team's defense: This is a different defense than earlier in the season. We started with man to man, but Tech's a hard team to defend man to man so we had to switch to zone. We have a lot of respect for Tech and we knew they could move the ball around on offense. This has become a very good defensive team.
