The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arkansas-Monticello (Regional Round)
Men's Basketball tops Arkansas-Monticello, 100-52
11.18.2007 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A.J. Abrams scored a career-high 30 points and No. 16 Texas cruised past Division II Arkansas-Monticello, 100-52 on Sunday.
Texas (3-0) hit 16 3-pointers, two shy of the school record. Abrams, who set the Big 12 season record for 3-pointers last season, hit eight, six of them in the first half as Texas built a 49-11 lead.
Arkansas-Monticello (0-2) was just 3-of-33 shooting in the first half. The Boll Weevils had 11 first-half points, the fewest allowed by Texas since 1949.
Damion James added 16 points for Texas. Justin Johnson led Arkansas-Monticello with 18 points, all in the second half.
Texas played the Boll Weevils as part of the StubHub Legends Classic. The Longhorns' schedule gets tougher in the next round next week in Newark, N.J. They play New Mexico State on Friday and then either West Virginia or No. 7 Tennessee.
Abrams scored 21 points two days earlier to lead Texas' win over UC Davis, doing it with a variety of long- and mid-range jumpers.
On Sunday, all he had to do was sit outside the arc and wait for passes to launch shot after shot from long range. Of his first nine baskets, seven were 3-pointers. His eighth made it 69-19 with 15 minutes left to play.
Abrams could have easily challenged the school record of 10, but didn't attempt another 3-pointer and spent much of the final 10 minutes on the bench.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas is 3-0 to start the season for fourth time in the last six seasons
- Equaled record for fewest field goals allowed in a half [since 1965-66] - 3 (previously vs. UNC Asheville on Dec. 28, 2000 and vs. Baylor on Jan. 11, 1986)
- Equaled record for fewest field goals allowed in a first half [since 1965-66] - 3 (previously vs. Baylor on Jan. 11, 1986)
- Set new record for fewest points in the first half [since 1949-50] - 11 (previously 12 vs. Centenary on Dec. 22, 2004 and at TCU on Jan. 5, 1978)
- New record for lowest field goal percentage allowed in a half [since 1965-66] - .091 (previously .150 vs. UNC Asheville on Dec. 28, 2000)
- Texas scored 100 or more points in a game for the first time in 2007-08 and the 101st time ever. The Longhorns are 92-9 all-time when score 100 or more points
- Texas has held opponents to less than 30 points in five of six halves on the season
- Texas has held opponents to less than 20 points in four of six halves on the season
- Texas has started the season with three consecutive wins of margins of at least 20 points for the first time since 2003-04
- Texas has won 78 of its last 83 home games
- Texas' 15 three-point field goals was three shy of the school record 18
- Texas has registered a 102-9 (.919) record in home games against unranked (AP) opponents during the Rick Barnes era
- Texas has posted a 63-6 (.913) mark in non-conference home games during the Rick Barnes era
A.J. Abrams
- Made a 3-point field goal for the 41st consecutive game
- Made multiple 3-point field goals for the 14th consecutive game
- Scored 10 or more points for the 41st time in 75 career games, including 32 of the last 38
- Scored 20 or more points for the second time in 2007-08 and the 11th time in his career
- Scored 30 points or more for the first time in his career - previous career high was 28 points vs. Chicago State (11-10-06)
- Set a career-high for field goals with 11 - previous career high was nine on two occasions, including UT's last game vs. UC Davis
- Set equaled career-high for three-point field goals with eight - equaling his eight vs. Chicago State (11-10-06)
- Abrams' eight three-point field goals was two shy of the school record (10 - Al Coleman vs. Kansas State (1/12/97)) and is tied for fourth all-time
Connor Atchley
- Posted double digits in the scoring column in back-to-back games for the first time in his career
- Scored 10 points or more for the second time in 2007-08 and the fifth time in 67 career games
D.J. Augustin
- Posted at least six assists for the 25th time in 38 career games
Damion James
- Scored 10 or more points in a game for the first time in 2007-08 and the 13th time in 38 career games
J.D. Lewis
- Equaled career highs with nine points and three field goals and set a new career high with three three-point field goals
Ian Mooney
- Made his first field goal in his Texas playing career
- Logged career highs at Texas with four rebounds and 10 minutes played
Harrison Smith
- Recorded career highs with five points and 12 minutes played
Alexis Wangmene
- Recorded career highs with seven rebounds, three blocked shots and 21 minutes played
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH MIKE NEWELL
On Texas: Texas is a lot like Tennessee, very athletic, long up front, and the guards are very quick. Tennessee's guards are a little bigger, but I thought we did a very poor job of attacking them in the first half, particularly the zone and the man, and of course the 3-33 shooting was due to their defense.
On the game: Nobody else would go play Tennessee, West Virginia, and Texas. It doesn't affect us from a standpoint that I've always felt throughout my career even as a Division I Mid Major coach. I've always felt like you learn about yourself early in the season playing as good a team as you can play. I knew we would find out with these three, [Bob] Huggins, Rick [Barnes], and Bruce [Pearl], that we would find out exactly how well defensively we would have to play. It is definitely a learning experience for us.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
Opening statement: I think we got some things out of this game. We watched our tape the other night, and some things we talked about that we are trying to constantly improve were the fundamentals and the little things. Believe me, there are a lot of things we need to get done, and the biggest thing tonight were the details and fundamentally improving on some things, which comes down to the responsibility of each player, and a lot of that was running the floor consistently and looking for the post-up which we did tonight. Spacing was better, but defensively I thought we did a better job on our stances on the ball and trying to force the ball where we wanted to force it. The zone was good. We had some lineups out there that we haven't put out there at all. Overall, I thought the energy and the intensity were good and we stayed with them pretty well.
On Alexis Wangmene: He's an energy guy for us and he's getting better. Tonight, a couple of guys were tired and I knew that they were tired and that they wanted out of the game. We left them in because they've got to learn to play when they are tired. They've got to learn to make better decisions. Clint [Chapman] and Dexter [Pittman] got tired. Dexter missed a couple of shots he usually doesn't miss because of his fatigue. Clint got tired and had two turnovers. They've got to learn to play through fatigue and learn to make some better decisions. Some times they don't listen, and that's why I took out Clint for a moment in the second half.
On the fatigue of the younger players: Yesterday, Clint and Dexter had hard individual workouts. I knew they would be a little heavy-legged. We did that by design yesterday so they can come into a game like this and play while they are tired. They both came out running early, but they both hit a wall pretty quick.
On A.J. Abrams: I thought he had a real good pace about himself and I was really happy when he went and played at the point-guard position in the second half. We know that A.J. can shoot, but I said all along that there's more to him than a spot-up shooter. His defense is getting back to where it was a year ago, but he has to improve there. I thought he got a little winded, but he's smart enough and knows how to fight through it.
JUNIOR GUARD A.J. Abrams
On getting open shots all night: I haven't been that wide open for a while now. It was there, and my teammates did a good job at finding me and I was stroking pretty well tonight.
On getting open from screens: One of our focuses in practice have been working on our screens and holding our screens. I think our postmen did a good job of screening tonight.
SOPHOMORE FORWARD Damion James
On his mid-range shot: That's all I worked on this summer was my jump shot. Coach always told me if I have an open shot to take it. It was going in tonight, so I kept shooting it. But we won tonight and that is all that matters.
On what the team has learned about themselves so far this season: We have a chance to be a great defensive team. That's one of our main focuses so far this season. We came out these last three games and have played well on defense and that is what we hang our hats on.
FRESHMAN FORWARD Alexis Wangmene
On his hustle: Something I like to do every time I play, is to be tough. Coach said tonight to not give up any positions so I was just going in there and doing my job.
On his confidence: We have been working really hard and we listen to what the older guys have to say because they have been here before us. We get along with the team and we have been learning a lot, so we're slowly getting there.
