The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Alcorn State
Men's Basketball advances with 103-44 win over Alcorn State in opener
11.09.2006 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Kevin Durant scored 20 points and No. 21 Texas' highly touted freshman class got off to a roaring start Thursday night with a 103-44 win over Alcorn State in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic.
A.J. Abrams and Damion James each scored 13 points for the Longhorns, who trailed 9-1 in the opening minutes before outscoring Alcorn State 47-9 over the rest of the first half in the regular-season opener for both teams.
Delvin Thompson led Alcorn State with 15 points. The Braves shot just 23 percent.
Texas lost all five starters from last season's team that set a school record with 30 wins and made it to the Atlanta Regional final of the NCAA tournament.
Three underclassmen from that team -- LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker and Daniel Gibson -- left school early for the NBA, leaving wispy guard Abrams as the leading returning scorer. Abrams averaged. 6.4 points last season.
The departures just created room for Durant, considered one of the top high school players in the country last season, and his new teammates in a seven-strong freshmen class rated among the best in college.
The Longhorns started three of them: forwards Durant and James and guard D.J. Augustin.
They started slow against the Braves and looked a bit nervous in the opening minutes. The Longhorns missed their first three shots and had three turnovers as Alcorn State took the early lead.
They settled down when Durant started heating up with dunks and no-look passes that sparked a 19-0 run over an 8-minute span.
Durant, a 6-foot-9 forward, stepped out for a 3-pointer that made it 26-10 and the game quickly turned into a rout. Texas led 48-18 by halftime. Durant was 8-of-13 shooting for the game and had six rebounds.
The Longhorns had a clear size advantage in both height and bulk over the Braves. Texas shot 56 percent and no Alcorn State player had more than one basket in the first half.
Texas opened the second with a 14-2 run, getting two 3-pointers each from Abrams and Durant that stretched the lead to 62-20.
Durant was the co-MVP of the McDonald's All-American game last season and the Big 12 coaches voted him the preseason conference freshman of the year.
He likely would have gone to the NBA out of high school if not for the league's minimum age requirement for the draft -- he just turned 18 on Sept. 29 -- and is expected to consider leaving college after one season.
Texas will play Chicago State (1-0) in the second round of the tournament Friday night.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Only the second time since 1972-73, when freshmen became eligible to play, that three freshman have started a season opener for Texas. The other occurrence came in 1979-80 when Fred Carson, LaSalle Thompson and George Turner started against Northwestern Louisiana.
- Kevin Durant set a Texas record for most points scored in a freshman debut with 20. The previous record was 18 points set by Ron Baxter at the beginning of the 1976-77 season and equaled by Jack Worthington in 1981-82 and P.J. Tucker in 2003-04.
- Damion James set a Texas record for most blocks in a freshman debut with three. The previous record was two set by LaSalle Thompson at the beginning of the 1979-80 season and equaled Gerald Houston in 1989-90 and James Thomas in 2000-01.
- The Longhorns came up one blocked shot shy of the single-game school record. The record of 13 was set against California in 2000-01 and equaled against UT San Antonio in 2004-05.
- Texas scored 100 in a season opener for the first time since logging 136 against Oral Roberts in 1992-93.
- The seven freshmen combined to log 70 points (67.9% of the team total), 32 rebounds (61.5%) and 12 assists (63.2%).
- Texas held Alcorn State to a .176 field goal percentage (6-34) in the first half. It's tied for the fourth lowest field goal percentage allowed by the Longhorns since 1965-66 and is the lowest field goal percentage since UT allowed Colorado to shoot an identical 6-34 in the first half of their game in Austin on March 10, 2000.
- The 59-point margin of victory was the eighth-highest ever for UT in a home game and ninth overall.
- Texas held Alcorn State to a .231 field goal percentage (15-65) for the game. The second-lowest total since 1960-61. The lowest was .182 yielded to Colorado on March 10, 2000.
- Texas is 82-19 all-time in season openers.
- Texas is 86-15 all-time in home openers, including 25-5 at the Erwin Center.
- Texas is 7-2 in season openers under Coach Barnes, including five consecutive wins.
- Connor Atchley set a career-high with his four blocked shots. His previous best was two on three separate occasions in 2005-06.
- Connor Atchley set a career-high with his seven rebounds. His previous best six against Samford in 2005-06.
- Craig Winder set a career-high with his 10 points. His previous best was six points against Texas State during the 2005-06 season.
- After falling behind 9-1 at the 17:32 mark of the first half, Texas went on a 19-0 run, not allowing a point over the next 8:49.
- Texas also went 10:13 without giving up a field goal as Alcorn State went up 9-1 with a field goal at the 17:32 mark of the first half and did not hit a another shot from the field until the clock hit 7:19, allowing UT to build a 26-13 lead.
- The Longhorns outscored Alcorn State, 47-9 in the final 17:32 of the first half.
- Texas is 3-0 all-time in games against current members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, including wins over Alcorn State, Southern and Prairie View A&M.
TEXAS QUOTES
Rick Barnes, Head coach
On his team's performance: Once we started moving the ball, there were some good things tonight. Kevin Durant is continuing to improve, and I thought Connor Atchley was much better when he got back in the second time. Matt Hill really gave us a lift, and Justin Mason and Craig Winder really gave us some energy. That's what we're looking for from these guys.
On Kevin Durant finding a rhythm for the game: I'm really most pleased with his defense. He's really trying to make an effort to defend, and he's learning to play harder than he ever has before. He's going to keep getting better and better.
On starting the season with a win: We obviously started the season the way we wanted to start. It was good to get our first win, and we're going to play a team tomorrow night that will show us some good offense and defense. We're going to have to turn around and get ready very quickly.
ALCORN STATE QUOTES
Samuel West, Head coach
On Texas' size advantage: Texas was much too strong, much too big for us. I give my guys credit for trying to battle back, but the way the game was called, they allowed us to play physical and we just couldn't match up with their size inside.
On Kevin Durant's play: There was one stretch at the beginning of the second half where he was shooting the basketball very relaxed and that really made a difference in the game.
