The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Tech
No. 12 Men's Basketball defeats Texas Tech, 73-47
01.26.2008 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Bob Knight got a standing ovation and a rousing cheer from Texas fans for getting his 900th victory earlier this season.
Then the Longhorns went out and dominated the Red Raiders -- again.
The pre-game pleasantries behind them, D.J. Augustin scored 19 points and A.J. Abrams broke out of a shooting slump with 17 points Saturday night as No. 12 Texas rolled to an easy 73-47 win over the Red Raiders.
"I really appreciated that," Knight said of the ovation. "I think we've always been treated really well down there."
Knight has been treated better than his teams. Texas has won 12 in a row over Tech in Austin, including several routs in recent years. The last three Texas wins in Austin have been by 26 or more points.
"I wish we could be like that with everybody," Abrams said.
Texas (16-3, 3-1 Big 12) won this one with tough defense in the first half and an offensive surge to start the second.
Texas held the Red Raiders to 16 points in the first half and kept their top scorer, Martin Zeno, in check the entire game. Defended most of the way by Justin Mason and Augustin, Zeno was 3-of-12 shooting for nine points.
Mike Singletary led the Red Raiders (11-8, 2-3) with 11 points, all in the second half.
Abrams, Texas' best 3-point shooter, had been stuck in a 7-of-32 slump from long range in the Longhorn's first three conference games. He missed his first two of this one, then found his touch in the second half and hit three of five.
"I kind of felt like I had let my team down in those games," Abrams said. "But I never lost confidence. I always think when it leaves my hand that it's going in."
Abrams scored 15 points after halftime as Texas seized control of what was a tight defensive game the first 20 minutes.
Texas coach Rick Barnes said he never worried about Abrams' slump.
"Sometimes you make them, sometimes you don't. As long as you take good shots," Barnes said.
Texas led 28-16 at the break and a 16-6 run early in the second half broke the game open. The final margin was a breather for the Longhorns, who won their previous two games by two points each.
Texas outrebounded the Red Raiders 38-27 and forced 15 turnovers, all the while holding Tech to 36 percent shooting. The Red Raiders were three of 13 on 3-pointers.
The first half was all defense, and poor shooting when either team managed to get an open look. Texas was 11-of-31 shooting -- and 0-of-8 on 3-pointers -- while the Red Raiders had more turnovers (eight) than field goals (six).
"We wanted to pick the tempo up and I think their defense got us bogged down. With our style of play, we need to get out and run," Abrams said.
Texas quickly revved things up in the second half.
Augustin had ended the first half with an off-balance jumper that rattled around the rim and bounced high before falling in, then hit a 3-pointer for Texas' first basket of the second.
Tech began bumbling around on offense -- phantom passes into the bench and dribbles off a foot and out of bounds -- as Texas pushed its lead to 42-24.
Abrams finally hit a 3-pointer and his long jumper put Texas up 48-28 with nearly 12 minutes left. He went on a roll from there, finishing the night six of 12 from the field.
"We got beat by a very good team that played very well tonight," Knight said. "I'm sure we have played better this year than we have tonight, but we weren't playing against Texas when we did."
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas is 19-2 against Texas Tech during the Rick Barnes era, including 10-0 in Austin
- Texas improved to 68-52 against Texas Tech, including 23-3 since the formation of the Big 12 Conference
- Texas has posted an 82-7 (.921) record against in-state foes during the Rick Barnes era
- Texas is 132-18 (.880) at the Erwin Center during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 86 of its last 92 home games
- Texas is 63-11 (.851) in Big 12 Conference home games under Rick Barnes
- Texas is 110-10 (.917) in home games against unranked (AP) opponents during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 71 of their last 75
- Texas had more assists than turnovers for the 16th time in 19 games in 2007-08
- Texas held its opponent under 50 points for the third time this season. The Horns also did the deed against UTSA (58-37) and UC Davis (73-42) in back-to-back games to open the season
- Texas held a Big 12 opponent under 50 points for the first time since a loss at Texas A&M on March 1, 2006 (43-46). It was the first time holding a league opponent under 50 points in a win since a 65-44 win at Texas Tech on Feb. 6, 2006
- Texas held Texas Tech to under 50 points for the third time in the last three seasons. The Horns beat the Red Raiders 80-46 in Austin and 65-44 in Lubbock during the 2005-06 season
- Texas improved to 14-1 when leading at halftime
- Texas improved to 13-1 when outrebounding its opponents
- Texas held a squad to lower than 25.0% from the field in a half for the third time this season, holding Tech to 24.0% (6-of-24) in the first half. The Horns had also held Arkansas-Monticello (9.1% - 1st) and UC Davis (18.2% - 2nd) under the mark.
A.J. Abrams
- Scored 10 or more points for 16th time in 2007-08 and the 54th time in 90 career games, including 45 of his last 53
- Registered a season-high with four steals. He came up one shy of his career record of five on two separate occasions
D.J. Augustin
- Scored 10 or more points for the 18th time in 2007-08 and the 43rd time in 54 career games - Scored 16 or more points for the 16th consecutive game.
- Led Texas in scoring for the 11th time this season
Damion James
- Logged a career-high with six assists. He had previously logged four assists against Texas Southern on Nov. 28, 2007
- Led Texas in rebounding for the 16th time this season
Gary Johnson
- Logged a career-high with seven rebounds. He had previously snared six rebounds against Saint Mary's on Jan. 5, 2008
Dexter Pittman
- Equaled a career-high with five made free throws. He had previously made five free throws against Texas State on Dec. 16, 2006
- Equaled a season-high with five rebounds. He had previously made grabbed five caroms against Rice on Dec. 8, 2007. He came up one rebound shy of his career-high
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On the team's slow start: Early we were probably trying to do too much. When you play Texas Tech, you have to play a few possessions before you know how they're going to guard. We were probably working too hard at going after certain players and it got us bogged down a little bit. Obviously a lot of it was the way they were playing us too; I think they were probably really happy at some of the shots we were taking and missing. Without A.J. and Connor, it made us do a couple of things differently, but overall, I was really happy with the post players. I thought those guys really carried over some things they worked on.
On Coach Knight: I've got more admiration for him than any other coach I've been around or known because he is the best. I've had the chance to learn from him and I've had the chance to study him through the years. Again, he's the best coach and he will always be. He's won with good players and won with players who weren't as good as the other team, but there's not a better coach in the country.
On the team's defense: Right now I know that there is no harder team to defend than Texas Tech because they catch you up in all kinds of way. The big fear is getting in foul trouble and no one can get opponents on the bench quicker than Tech. Overall, I thought defensively we were pretty good. The zone helped us, but again, they're a hard team to defend and you have to have all five guys ready.
SOPHOMORE GUARD D.J. Augustin
On getting the ball down low: They came out with a small lineup and we tried to get inside with Gary [Johnson], Damion [James] and Clint [Chapman]. They all did a great job posting up and scoring for us.
On Damion James: He's a match-up problem because he can play the wing and usually has a smaller guy on him so he can see over his defender and drop the ball off to the big man down low. We work on that in practice and today it came out well.
On the bench production: It was great. We need that every night from them and they get better every day in practice and in the game. I think they are building confidence right now.
JUNIOR GUARD A.J. Abrams
On his foul trouble: Fouls are going to happen and you're going to have some tough calls against you but you have to stay within the game plan and know what you have to do to help the team win. I know that if I go out, D.J. is going to take over and he takes over when I'm in the game. The bench stepped up today and a lot of guys did some good things so I wasn't too worried about having foul trouble.
On tempo of the game: It was kind of slow at first. We wanted to pick the tempo up, and I think their defense got us bogged down on offense and with our style of play, we need to get out and run so that was our mindset coming into the game. We kind of fell into their trap early in the game and finally got started going in the second half.
On Texas Tech: I wish we could be like with everybody but they are a great team. Every time they come here they play hard. They're sound fundamentally and Coach Knight gets them prepared every night. It is a great match-up every time we play them and fortunately we got the win.
TEXAS TECH POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH BOB KNIGHT
Opening statement: We got beat by a very good team that played very well tonight. I don't think there was anything we could've done differently, maybe only if we had shot better, particularly in the first half. Other than that, we go off the floor having given up 28 points at the half. With the exception of [John] Roberson and Damir [Suljagic], I think we were one-for-17 from the floor in the first half, so we can't play with that. I think we played better in the second half, but Texas also came out and played better as well.
On Texas' defense: I think Texas is just good and we have not been good enough or have played well enough. I'm sure we have played better this year than we have tonight, but we weren't playing against Texas when we did. I thought we worked hard tonight. I think they played well defensively and they are good in all phases of the game.
On the ovation for him before the game: I really appreciated that and I appreciated Texas doing that. It was very nice of them to do that. I think we've always been treated really well down here and I have always been treated well here. I have an appreciation for The University of Texas because of that.
