The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Tennessee (Championship Round)
No. 15 Men's Basketball routs No. 7 Tennessee, 97-78, in StubHub! Legends Classic
11.24.2007 | Men's Basketball
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- D.J. Augustin scored 23 points, A.J. Abrams had 21 and No. 15 Texas shot 64 percent from the field in routing No. 7 Tennessee 97-78 in the championship game of the StubHub! Legends Classic on Saturday night.
Connor Atchley added a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds, Justin Mason had 21 points and the Longhorns (5-0) continued to show they are going to be a force even with Kevin Durant now playing in the NBA.
Chris Lofton had 18 points to lead Tennessee (5-1), which was limited to 39 percent shooting from the field. JaJuan Smith added 13 and Tyler Smith had 11.
This was supposed to be the biggest test for Rick Barnes' young team, which starts three sophomores and two juniors.
Tennessee (5-1) was undefeated, had Lofton, the preseason All America at guard, and was coming off an impressive win over West Virginia the night before at the new Prudential Center. The Vols also beat Texas 111-105 in overtime in December, rallying from a 17-point halftime deficit in a contest that Lofton scored a career-high 35 points.
The only similarity this time was that Tennessee, which hit 16 3-pointers, was again behind at the half.
The difference was that Texas rode the dynamic guard play of Augustin and Abrams in the second half and poured it on.
Texas took control of the game with a 19-4 spurt that bridged the final minutes of the first half and the start of the second.
Trailing 39-38, Augustin and Abrams combined on a 12-2 run to end the first half. Augustin hit four free throws and Abrams, who had made 17 3-pointers in his previous two games, nailed two more.
The second half was more of the same, with Texas hitting 18 of 28 shots .
Augustin found Abrams for a backdoor layup for one of his eight assists and then added a jumper to start the half. After JaJuan Smith made a basket for Tennessee, Atchley hit two free throws and Abrams, who didn't score until late in the first half, scored on a fastbreak for a 57-43 lead.
Texas led by as many as 22 points in winning the inaugural Legends title. The victory over a ranked team was the 40th for Barnes at Texas.
Tennessee was looking for its first tournament win since the Rainbow Classic in 2000.
The first half was an offensive showcase with Texas shooting 63 percent in taking a 50-41 lead.
The Longshots hit 8 of their first 10 in jumping to a 25-18 advantage. A string of three straight 3-pointers, the first and last by Jordan Howell, gave the Volunteers a 29-28 lead.
There were five more lead changes, the last coming on two free throws by Augustin.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas was perfect on more than 10free throwattempts in a half for the fifth time since 1965-66, going 10-of-10. The last time UT made more than 10 from the charity stripe without a miss was against Utah on Dec. 29, 2001 in the first half against Utah
- Texas won five consecutive games by margins of 15 points or more for the first time since the 1995-96 season (Feb 3, 1996 to Feb. 17, 1996).
- Texas made a three-point field goal for the 550th consecutive game - a streak dating back to Dec. 18, 1990
- Texas won its second early season tournament in the last three years. The Horns won the Guardian Classic in November of 2005 in Kansas City
- Rick Barnes won his 40th game over an AP Top 25 team since arriving in Austin and 70th in his career
- Texas shot 73-of-116 (.629) from the field in their two wins at the Legends Classic Championship Rounds and shot .550 or better in all four halves at the Prudential Center
- Texas has shot .540 or higher from the field and .500 or higher from three-point range in each of the last four games
- Texas is off to a 5-0 to start the season for the second time in the last three seasons
A. J. ABRAMS
- Abrams averaged 27.3 points over the last three games, shooting 30-of-47 from the field with 20 3-point field goals
- Abrams averaged 26.0 points in UT's two wins at the Legends Classic Championship Rounds
- Equaled a career-high with six rebounds. He previously pulled down six boards against Iowa State on February 10, 2007
- Made a 3-point field goal for the 43rd consecutive game
- Made multiple 3-point field goals for the 16th consecutive game
- Scored 10 or more points for the 43rd time in 77 career games, including 34 of the last 40
- Scored 20 or more points for the fourth time in 2007-08 and the 13th time in his career
Connor Atchley
- Registered a career-high with 11 rebounds - his first career game with 10 or more boards. His previous high was nine rebounds against Oklahoma State on January 16, 2007
- Registered a career-high with 22 points. He previously scored 15 points on two different occasions, including UT's win over New Mexico State on Friday
- Averaged 18.5 points in UT's two wins at the Legends Classic Championship Rounds, shooting 15-of-19 (.789) from the field
- Logged his first career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds
- Set a career-high with nine field goals, including six in the first half. His previous best was six in UT's win over New Mexico State on Friday
- Scored 10 or more points for the fourth time in 2007-08. He entered the season with three double-figure scoring efforts in 64 games for his career
- Scored 20 or more points for the first time in his career
- Posted double digits in the scoring column in four consecutive games for the first time in his career
D.J. Augustin
- Averaged 24.0 points and 9.0 assists over two games in UT's two wins at the Legends Classic Championship Rounds
- Scored 10 or more points for the fourth time in 2007-08 and the 29th time in 40 career games
- Scored 20 or more points for the second time in 2007-08 and the ninth time in his career
- Posted at least six assists for the 27th time in 40 career games
Justin Mason
- Scored a career-high 21 points. His previous best was 18 points on two occasions
- Made a career-high eight free throws. His previous best was four last season against Tennessee
- Scored 10 or more points in a game for the third time in 2007-08 and the 14th time in 40 career games
- Scored 20 or more points in a game for the first time in his career
Alexis Wangmene
- Has blocked two or more shots in each of the last four games
