The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas State
No. 6/6 Men's Basketball edges Texas State, 81-73
12.13.2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2008
Box Score 
| Box Score | 
AUSTIN, TEXAS (AP) -- A.J. Abrams scored 30 points, giving No. 6 Texas the cushion it needed down the stretch, and the Longhorns pulled away late for an 81-73 victory over Texas State on Saturday.
Dexter Pittman scored a career-high 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (8-1), who trailed midway through the second half against a team that gave them a much tougher game than expected.
Abrams, held without a basket for the first 15 minutes of the second half, put Texas up 67-63, then had a steal and 3-pointer to start a Texas run that put the game away.
Abrams scored 13 of Texas' final 16 points and went 11 of 12 on free throws. He has averaged 29 points over Texas' last three games, including wins over UCLA and Villanova.
Damion James added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Longhorns.
Cameron Johnson scored 24 points for Texas State (3-5).
Texas led 10-0 before Texas State, one of the highest scoring teams in the country, rallied behind Brent Benson, an ultra-quick guard who had 16 points in the first half. Benson scored 14 of the Bobcats' first 18 points and put Texas State up 18-17 with a layup.
The Longhorns' offense went into a deep slump after its quick burst. Abrams made all four of his 3-point attempts in the half while his teammates missed several point blank shots. Texas went without a field goal for a 6-minute stretch and led 38-34 at halftime.
Unlike last season, when Texas led by two at halftime and pulled away in the opening minutes of the second half, the Longhorns couldn't shake the Bobcats until late in this one. Texas State reserves outscored Texas' 43-12 and outrebounded the Longhorns 46-42.
Pittman missed two layups, James missed another and Texas State took a 50-49 lead on Johnson's reverse layup with 12:58 to play. Sensing a possible upset, a small group of Texas State fans piled into some empty seats behind the Texas basket to taunt Longhorns players at the free throw line.
What Texas State didn't have an answer for was Pittman's size, and the 6-foot-10, 300-pound forward became a big target in the offense. Six straight points by Pittman, including a three-point play, helped put Texas up 61-54.
But Pittman soon picked up his fourth foul and the Bobcats kept hanging around, cutting the Texas lead to 65-63 before Abrams' two big plays swung the game.
Abrams, who had 15 points in the first half, made his first basket of the second with 4:45 left. Ten seconds later, he stole a pass and quickly dribbled up court before pulling up for his fifth 3-pointer for a 70-63 lead. Six straight free throws by Abrams finally gave Texas its first double-digit lead since the opening minutes.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas improved to 74-7 in non-conference home games during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 68 of its last 70
- Texas improved to 87-9 (.906) against in-state foes during the Rick Barnes era
- Texas improved to 38-5 all-time against Texas State, including 20 consecutive wins
- Texas improved to 117-10 in home games against unranked (AP) opponents during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 78 of its last 82 against unranked foes
- Texas improved to 143-18 at the Erwin Center during the Rick Barnes era
- Texas blocked six or more shots for the eighth time this season and the seventh consecutive game
A.J. Abrams
- Moved into ninth place on the list for most career points in UT history, passing Raymond Downs (1,558 - 1955-57) with 1,571
- Scored 10 or more points for the eighth time this season and the 76th time in 118 career games
- Scored 20 or more points for the fifth time this season and the 28th time in his career
- Scored 30 or more points for the second time this season and the fourth time in his career
- Made a career-high 11 free throws, topping the eight he made against UCLA earlier this season
- Has averaged 29.0 points per game over the last three contests
- Grabbed a season-high four steals, topping the three steals he had against Oregon
Connor Atchley
- With 161 blocks, moved into fourth place on the list for most career blocks in UT history, passing Chris Owens (159 - 2000-02)
- With 161 blocks, moved into 10th place on the list for most career blocks in Big 12 Conference history, passing John Turek of Nebraska (160 - 2002-05)
Damion James
- Scored 10 or more points for the ninth time this season and the 47th time in 82 career games
Justin Mason
- Logged a career-high nine assists, topping the eight he logged against Oklahoma State (3-14-08) last season
- In the last three games, Mason has logged 22 assists against just three turnovers
- Logged six or more assists for the fifth time this season
- Grabbed a season-high seven rebounds, topping the six boards he grabbed on two separate occasions
Dexter Pittman
- Logged his first double-double of the season and the second of his career
- Scored a career-high 17 points, topping the 14 points he logged against Texas A&M (1-30-08) last season
- Made a career-high seven free throws, topping the six free throws he logged against Texas A&M (1-30-08) last season
- Scored 10 or more points for the third time this season and the fifth time in 74 career games
- Grabbed 10 or more rebounds for the first time this season and the second time in his career
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On today's game: I'm not into the final sore. I'm in from the technical and mental standpoint and we had some guys who didn't do the things they needed to do. I think as a group there were some really good things that happened today. A.J. took on a guy who had scores 13 points in the first half and shut him down in the second. Dexter was terrific. But we fumbled the ball, missed free throws and not rotate on defense. We thought it was going to be easy, we went up 10-0 and then got stagnant. I don't know what emotional letdowns mean, guys that get it get it. So as a group, I'm not sure we had an emotional down. I just think some guys weren't ready to get it down and I let them know that after the game.
On Texas State: We knew they were a high possession team and it's a huge game for them. They come in with nothing to lose and I think we have something to lose every time we go on the floor. I don't want to take anything away from Texas State. Anytime you play against a team that plays hard, that's a real testament to the coaching staff, but from our point of view I just want to see us get better every time we play. I don't expect us to play perfect every time but there are certain things you should be doing every single night. That's where I get upset with our guys. I've said after the Villanova game, we can play a lot of different ways and we did tonight.
On Dexter Pittman: He fought fatigue. He did a great job at the Villanova game where he moved his feet. That's a pretty impressive line if you look at what he did. I think our guys are starting to understand what we're trying to tell them. That is, Dexter is a force to be reckoned with and I think Dexter is starting in to put it in the book. The kid rebounds, he had six defensive rebounds, he has great hands, a couple of those he missed tonight I think had to do with fatigue, but he's trying to do that and the rebounds is what impresses me the most. I like the way he's carrying himself. I told him he's going to have to carry himself differently and learn the hide the fatigue if he wants the guys to believe him. He's just needs time to keep developing. He's worked on his free throw shooting. That's the one thing's he's done since he came here. Dexter has a really nice turnaround jump shot from 5-10 feet. He has great touch for a guy who has hands his size. He's worked hard at it.
SENIOR GUARD A.J. Abrams
On Dexter Pittman: He started the game out real well. He got the tone set for us early going inside. We should have gone to him more but for the minutes that he played, he provided us with a big spark. Our game plan is always to get the ball to Dex early because he is a big force for us on the offensive and defensive end. Early in the game we went to him as much as we could and we made it more of a focal point in this game to get him the ball.
On stealing the ball: We knew that they would drive a couple times and kick it out, and so I was playing the passing lane and we got a few steals out of it.
On their performance: A win is a win but I think that we had some guys who could've played better. But everyone isn't going to play their best game every night, so we have to have some team effort and pick everybody up. For the most part I think we did an alright job but we should have rebounded better and gotten more defensive stops. We got them when we needed to but we need to improve.
On how he feels: I'm feeling alright. I think my teammates are doing a good job. We're screening better and people are worrying about Dex now which frees up me a little and lets me take some time to knock down the shot.
JUNIOR CENTER Dexter Pittman
On his career high 17 points: I expect myself to go out there and do the things my coach wants me to do and help me teammates. I don't look at stats, I just want to go out and play hard and I think that is my key to success. That's all I do. There wasn't anything different from our game plan today. I know coming in I'm supposed to score and supposed to have that mentality to go straight up and put the points on the board.
On Texas' performance: I think we all had to be together as a team to be focused and come out aggressive. We can't take anything for granted and we need to come out and play hard every minute, every time we have a game.
TEXAS STATE QUOTES
HEAD COACH DOUG DAVALOS
Opening Statement: I'm very proud of our basketball team, and I said the same thing last year. I know the players in our locker room came into this game believing they could win this game. We knew it would be awfully challenging to do that. It was so nice to see the process that went into us making this a possession ball game. Our players are buying into what they can do to help our team win and see ourselves grow as individuals and as a team. Take nothing away from a great Texas team, I am just proud of my team. If you ask in the locker room, we are just disappointed that we didn't win the basketball game. That's why we toss it up every game.
On if he sees the loss as more of a moral victory: No, not for our team. We put them on the foul line late and that has been an Achilles heel for us all year. Our guys expect to win games, and we've come here and made a good show of it before. But, we didn't come in here to put on a good show, we came in here to get a win. From a moral victory standpoint, all I can say is that we had some guys that really showed how they can help this team win, and we just need them to build on that.
On if this was their best road game: This was our best road performance. We opened the year against Cal State Fullerton on a neutral floor and won that game and played really well. This was the first one where we played really well on the other team's floor, and we gave ourselves a chance to win. We held a good Texas team to shooting 35 percent. Did they miss some open shots? Sure. But at the end of the day, when we hold teams to under 45 percent shooting, I know my team has a chance to win.
SENIOR GUARD BRENT BENSON
On the offense today: First, we really had to get stops and we knew that we could run on this team. Off the offensive transition, we pushed the ball on them and made them guard us as well. Coach just told us to keep running and running and get easy baskets.
On the importance of having multiple scorers: It's really important. We have great offensive players, but we just have to have the mindset to come in and play defense, because we knew we could score on this team. The other guys stepped up tonight.
On the point where they believed they could win: I believed during the whole game. I knew that if we could keep getting stops, we would be able to score on them. We started fouling too much towards the end with our reach-ins. Other than that, I pretty much knew we had a great shot at winning during the whole game.
On their offensive philosophy: Like I said, if we get stops, I think we can run on anybody in the country on transition. We have great guards and great post players, and if we get the ball out, it's hard to stop us when we're running as much as we run.
