The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UC Davis (Regional Round)
Abrams leads Men's Basketball to 73-42 win over UC Davis
11.16.2007 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A.J. Abrams scored 21 points and Texas (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 16 AP) coasted to a 73-42 victory Friday night over UC Davis, which is playing its first season as a full-fledged Division I program.
Abrams, who was scoreless in the first half of Texas' season-opener three days earlier, found his 3-point shooting touch early and had 12 points by halftime for the Longhorns (2-0).
Abrams set a Big 12 record with 120 3-pointers last season and hit three from long range against the Aggies (1-2). D.J. Augustin had 10 points and 11 assists for the Longhorns and Connor Atchley scored 11 points.
Shane Hanson led UC Davis with 12 points.
The Aggies kept it close in the first half with six 3-pointers, three of them coming in the final seconds of the shot clock. Abrams was 5 of 8 shooting in the half as Texas took a 35-29 lead into halftime.
UC Davis kept the pace at a crawl in the second, but starting missing 3-pointers. Justin Mason's reverse layup to finish a fast break capped a 7-2 run to open the half that pushed the Texas lead to 42-31.
The Aggies missed their first five 3-pointers of the second. Texas blew it open when Alexis Wangmene converted a 3-point play and Augustin and Atchley hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it 57-40 with 11:30 to play.
At that point, UC Davis seemed content to take the loss. The Aggies stayed in their slow-motion offense while Texas sat back and let them work the ball around the perimeter, bleeding seconds and minutes off the clock before scooping up the rebounds off missed shots.
Texas went six minutes without scoring but still maintained at least a 15-point lead. UC Davis shot 30 percent for the game and 7-of-28 on 3-pointers, hitting 1-of-15 in the second half.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas is 2-0 to start the season for the sixth consecutive year
- Texas' four field goals allowed in the second half was tied for the third lowest total in a half since 1965-66 equaling the four allowed against Baylor in the second half on Feb. 19, 2000.
- Texas held opponents to less then 50 points in back-to-back games to start the season for the first time since 1952-53
- Texas held UC Davis to .182 shooting from the field (4-of-22) in the second half after holding UTSA to .250 percent (6-of-24) in the opener... The Longhorns are holding opponents to .217 (10-of-46) shooting from the field in second halves on the season
- Texas has held opponents to less than 30 points in all four halves on the season
- Texas has held opponents to less than 20 points in three of four halves on the season
- Texas has started the season with back-to-back wins with margins of at least 20 points for the fifth consecutive season
- Texas has won 77 of its last 82 home games
- Texas is 1-0 all-time vs. UC Davis
- Texas is 10-5 against current members of the Big West Conference
- Texas has registered a 101-9 (.918) record in home games against unranked (AP) opponents during the Rick Barnes era
- Texas has posted a 62-6 (.912) mark in non-conference home games during the Rick Barnes era
A.J. Abrams
- Equaled a career-high with nine made field goals
- Made a 3-point field goal for the 40th consecutive game
- Made multiple 3-point field goals for the eighth consecutive game
- Scored 10 or more points for the 40th time in 74 career games, including 31 of the last 37
- Scored 20 or more points for the first time in 2007-08 and the 10th time in his career
Connor Atchley
- Equaled a career-high with five field goals in the game (previously on two occasions)
- Scored 10 or more points for the first time in 2007-08 and the fourth time in 66 career games
D.J. Augustin
- Scored 10 or more points for the second time in 2007-08 and the 27th time in 37 career games
- Posted at least six assists for the 24th time in 37 career games
- Posted 10 or more assists for the first time in 2007-08 and the sixth time in 37 career games
- Logged a double-double for the first time in 2007-08 and the fourth time in 37 career games (all point/assist double-doubles)
Damion James
- Recorded 10 or more rebounds in a game for the first time in 2007-08 and the 11th time in 37 career games
Justin Mason
- Recorded a career-high two blocked shots
Alexis Wangmene
- Recorded career highs with eight points, four rebounds and two blocks
TEXAS QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
General statement: I do think we improved from the other night against UTSA. These two games have helped us, playing teams who hold the ball and shorten the game. Defensively in the first half I think we did a good job, but we got a little impatient a few times with the shot clock. Overall, I thought our offense is what hurt us. We lost points on the board, but in the second half we went zone early to see how they'd respond and it ended up being pretty good for us. I thought Connor, D.J. [Augustin] and Alexis [Wangmene] did a good job tonight. We're still finding our way, but I do think we have some strength in numbers. We have to get the mindset that we need to keep developing our game, and from there, we'll get pretty good balance between the inside game and what we normally do.
On the play of Connor Atchley: He was in the situation where he could really talk and he did a great job of directing traffic at times. I think he's become more confident in his shot, he's playing at a good pace and he's settled down with his game. Connor has really good vision and I think he's seeing more on the court than he's seen before. He really understands the game, he's a clever student, and if he can maintain what he's doing, I know he's going to do the things we need him to do.
JUNIOR GUARD A.J. Abrams
On improving his shot during the summer: I worked a lot on my midrange game this summer. We did a lot of drills and during practice I would put myself in game type situations where I had to finish big shots. I worked a lot on penetrating and having to finish over my defender. It was all about using what you have and trying to work on the game.
On the play of Connor Atchley: Connor is doing great for us-he's running the court which really helps. He's been running hard, setting a lot of screens, and getting people open. Connor does a lot that is going to help the team win.
On playing non-conference opponents: I think its going to help us later in the season. The slow-down game against UTSA forced us to play defense a long time, and tonight we got to work on our zone in the second half. These types of games give us a chance to work on our defense and other aspects of the game that we don't get to work on in practice.
JUNIOR FORWARD Connor Atchley
On his contributions to the team: I just make sure that the offense is flowing and I'll do whatever the coaches ask me to do. It's all about playing solid and being fluid.
On being more defense minded as team: We know that in order to be a good team, we have to play solid defense. I think that as a team, we want to make sure we get better every time because if it's a big game in a tight situation, we need to play clutch defense.
UC DAVIS QUOTES
HEAD COACH GARY STEWART
Opening statement: Texas was everything we thought they would be. They are difficult to handle in transition and they are a well-coached ball club, and I have to give them a lot of credit.
On handling the Texas zone defense: I thought it was to our benefit. I thought we didn't do what we wanted to do in the first half in relationship to controlling the tempo. We wanted to slow our kids down a bit and we felt like that was to our benefit. We just didn't execute as well as we'd like.
