The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
Men's Basketball defeats TCU, 67-59
01.02.2008 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Damion James had another double-double for No. 14 Texas, scoring a career-high 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead the Longhorns to a 67-59 victory over TCU on Wednesday.
D.J. Augustin added 20 points for the Longhorns (12-2), who snapped a two-game losing streak.
The game was also the season debut for freshman forward Gary Johnson, the Longhorns' top recruit who missed the first 13 games while doctors monitored an unspecified heart condition last summer. He started, and finished with five points and five rebounds.
James had his seventh double-double in nine games. He also had five blocks and did just about everything to keep Texas from losing its third straight. The Longhorns were without shooting guard A.J. Abrams, who injured his left foot in practice Monday, and Augustin sat on the bench for nine minutes of the first half with foul trouble.
Henry Salter scored 19 points to lead TCU, which hit 12 3-pointers. Salter made five 3s and his last one with 51 seconds left got the Horned Frogs (8-5) within six before Texas put the game away.
Texas was forced to go deep into its bench with Abrams out and Augustin picking up two quick fouls. Walk-on Ian Mooney, who usually only gets in the game at the end of early season routs, played 14 minutes. James carried Texas early, hitting six of his first seven shots for 18 points as Texas led 34-32 at halftime.
The Horned Frogs kept making 3-pointers. Two straight turnovers by Texas and three consecutive 3-pointers by TCU put the Horned Frogs up 41-37 just over a minute into the second half.
James and Augustin then ripped off 11 straight points to give Texas the lead for good. Augustin sparked the run with two dazzling layups and a breakaway bucket for a 48-41 lead.
Texas built it to 10 but couldn't get the big run to put TCU away. The Horned Frogs got within 59-54 on Keion Mitchem's 3-pointer and cut the lead to 3 on Jason Ebie's two free throws with just under four minutes left.
James, who had done just about everything up to that point, made the defensive play of the game when he got a fingertip on a TCU pass and threw the ball back to the court as he nearly tumbled over the scorer's table. Texas quickly got the ball to Augustin for a 3-pointer that put Texas up by six.
After TCU turned the ball over without a shot, Mooney, the walk-on, grabbed a big rebound off a miss by Augustin that gave Texas another 35 seconds as time was winding down.
Johnson, who had been allowed to practice, was cleared to play last week and will wear a heart monitor all season.
Texas badly needs his muscle, both in scoring and defensive rebounding. The Longhorns were outscored in the paint by 22 points in consecutive losses to Michigan State and Wisconsin and coach Rick Barnes has complained they aren't physical enough near the basket.
That changed against the Horned Frogs. Texas outscored TCU in the paint 18-6, won the rebounding 40-31 and held the Horned Frogs 33 percent shooting. TCU could grab only eight offensive boards.
Johnson made his first shot, an easy layup, then missed almost an identical shot when Texas went right back to him the next trip down the court. He picked up his first foul before grabbing his first rebound.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas is now 99-62 all-time against TCU
- Texas holds a 59-19 advantage in games played against the Horned Frogs in Austin and has won 10 consecutive home games against TCU
- Texas is 81-7 (.920) against in-state foes during the Rick Barnes era
- Texas is 129-18 (.878) at the Erwin Center during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 83 of its last 89 home games
- Texas is 107-10 (.915) in home games against unranked (AP) opponents during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 68 of their last 72
- Texas is 68-7 (.907) in non-conference home games during the Rick Barnes era, including 62 of their last 65
- Texas has had at least one player grab 10 or more rebounds in each of the last 10 games
- Texas moved to 10-0 when outrebounding its opponents
A.J. Abrams
- First time in his career he has missed a game. He had played in 85 consecutive games
Connor Atchley
- Logged 12 blocked shots over the last four games, the best four-game total of his career
- Equaled a career-high with three steals. He had previously recorded three steals against Texas State on Dec. 15, 2007
D.J. Augustin
- Scored 10 or more points for the 13th time in 2007-08 and the 38th time in 49 career games
- Scored 20 or more points for the eighth time in 2007-08 and the 15th time in his career
Damion James
- Scored a career-high 29 points. His previous best was a career-high 22 against Texas A&M on February 28, 2007
- Logged a double-double for the seventh time in 2007-08 and 11th time in 49 career games
- Logged a double-double for the seventh time in the last nine games, averaging 16.4 ppg and 12.8 rpg during the stretch
- Scored 10 or more points for the ninth time in 2007-08 and the 21st time in his career
- Made multiple 3-point field goals for the first time in his career. Entering the game, he had just seven 3-pointers in his career, all coming in separate games
- Scored 20 or more points for the second consecutive game and the third time in his career
- Logged 10 or more rebounds for the ninth time in 2007-08 and the 19th time in his career
- Logged 10 or more rebounds for the eighth time in the last nine games, averaging 12.8 rpg over the span
- Logged a career-high five blocked shots. He had previously blocked four shots on two separate occasions, both as a freshman
Ian Mooney
- Logged a career-high 14 minutes. His previous best was 10 minutes against Arkansas-Monticello on Nov. 18, 2007
- Logged his second career field goal and equaled his career-high point total with two. His previous field goal came against Arkansas-Monticello on Nov. 18, 2007
- Recorded his first career blocked shot
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On Ian Mooney's performance: The great thing about today's win was Ian Mooney. He did exactly what we are begging the three or four guys on the team to do. He does it every day in practice and it is unbelievable for what he does for our team. The players have confidence in him and it's not like I don't have confidence in him, but you just expect your scholarship players that you recruited to buy into that role. He went out there and did exactly what we need from our post guys. You look at the stat sheet and it seems like he doesn't do much, but he closed out and he did everything we wanted. During all those stands that we had, he was the guy who made most of it happen. We're happy for him because he works hard.
On the accountability of the team: We are not going to get where we want to go if we don't work hard. Take nothing away from TCU, they are a very sound team. Just like he is worrying about his team, I am worrying about mine. We need everybody, especially when you lose a guy who is one of your leading scorers, you expect everybody to come with the energy that Damion [James] and Ian did. Gary [Johnson] did some things, but he got tired. All we need, as a group, is what Ian Mooney did off of the bench. If we get that, we have a chance to be a good basketball team.
On Damion James' play: I think Damion got really excited. He's played inside for the most part and now he is comfortable being in his natural position. I asked him if he would still be able to rebound and he told me that he will be able to rebound better now. He's continued to work, even in our two losses. For the most part, he's been doing a good job. He has to get used to doing the little things in this position rather than playing like a post player.
SOPHOMORE GUARD D.J. Augustin
On going into the second half: We wanted to come out aggressive and attack the defense they were throwing at us. Mooney played tough the whole time and that is what he does in practice everyday and he finally got his chance to show Coach Barnes that he can play.
On James' steal towards the end of the game: That was a great play for us and it changed the game. That is what we need from Damion. He can change the game anytime with his athleticism and he plays hard with intensity.
SOPHOMORE FORWARD Damion James
On scoring a career-high 29 points: I never look to score. I love to rebound. I just want to rebound, it's not about me, it's about the team.
On hitting three 3-pointers: I had the open shot, so I took it. If it weren't for D.J. giving me the ball, I wouldn't even have the shot like today. Again, it's not about me, it's about the team, and they got me the ball when I had the open shot.
On having Gary Johnson in the lineup: With Gary in the game it allowed me to roam more. He is a great player and he allowed me to do more things outside and allow me to rebound more coming from the wing.
SENIOR FORWARD Ian Mooney
On playing a career-high 14 minutes: I'm happy that I got to have a chance to play and I had a lot of fun out there. I can't argue with getting those minutes. You practice and sometimes you get in and sometimes you don't.
TCU POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH NEIL DOUGHERTY
On his team's three point shooting: I'm not very comfortable shooting 29 three-pointers in a game. When you play against a defense like Texas' you are almost happy when you get eight of them, regardless of where they come from. We could've made a couple more that would've obviously helped our cause.
On the late steal by Damion James: I'm not sure where he came from, but I know he covered an awful lot of ground. He is one heck of an athletic basketball player. That play capped off by the three-pointer by [D.J.] Augustin really hurt us. I thought we were in decent shape before James' play, where he not only got to the ball, but he saved the ball as well. That put us pretty much too deep to recover.
On playing zone against Texas: I think we probably would've liked to play some because we always like to mix in just a little bit in every game. I think tonight, our zone was more a combination of having players in foul trouble and trying to keep them on the court. We tried to keep D.J. off of the free throw line, but that did not work very well.
On his team starting conference play: After tonight, I feel like we are ready for conference play. We needed to play in a physical game where every possession was going to test us and I wanted to see how we would respond. I liked how our team responded on every possession, whether if we were on a run or if Texas was on a run. I think we held our composure, yet we remained aggressive.
