The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Tech
Men's Basketball victorious at Texas Tech, 71-49
01.17.2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2009
Box Score | Notes | Box Score 
| 
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- No. 11 Texas' play in the second half of its 71-49 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday was a display that pleased coach Rick Barnes.
It wasn't just the Longhorns' defense against Alan Voskuil, Texas Tech's leading scorer, that improved after halftime.
"We did a better job too of taking care of the ball," Barnes said. "I think we only had three turnovers in the second half. Two of those came in the last minute and a half."
Damion James scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half for the Longhorns.
"We consider ourselves the big-time players," said James who was 6-of-14 from the field. "We want to make plays. We were able to do that today. Got a lot of movement. That allowed us to go in and get a lot of offensive rebounds."
Gary Johnson and Justin Mason added 15 points each for the Longhorns (13-4, 2-1 Big 12). Mason had 10 rebounds, tying his career high and getting his first career double-double.
Johnson carried Texas in the first half, and James and Mason picked up their play to lead the Longhorns in the second with Mason scoring 12 points over the final 20 minutes.
Voskuil scored 12 points and Mike Singletary added 10 for the Red Raiders (10-7, 0-2).
Texas used a 12-4 run to go ahead 54-36 with 12:31 remaining and Texas Tech didn't threaten from there.
It was the second straight season Texas Tech coach Pat Knight opened 0-2 in the conference.
The loss kept Knight from getting consecutive home wins over the Longhorns. Texas Tech beat then-No. 5 Texas 83-80 in Lubbock last year less than a month after Bob Knight resigned and turned the program over to his son.
Tech shot just 34 percent from the field (18-of-53).
Knight was frustrated with his team's shooting percentage.
"I wish this team had my personality. We don't compete right now," he said. "I have no idea why we shot so poorly. If I knew, we wouldn't be shooting poorly."
A Texas Tech player lost control of the ball on offense and several players from both teams had chances to gain control. Finally, Nick Okorie came away from the scrum with the ball and made an easy layup to whittle the Red Raiders' deficit to 47-36.
Texas players went to the basket consistently, getting 30 points in the paint, and went to the line 20 times, making all but five. Tech only got to the free throw line 13 times, making six.
Tech went up early but a 7-minute drought allowed the Longhorns to pull ahead for good in the first half. The Red Raiders' scoreless spell ended on a 3-pointer by Voskuil with 10:27 remaining in the half to make it 14-11.
Barnes knew his team would have to watch Voskuil.
"Tech does a great job of screen and re-screen and he reads it well and he doesn't need much separation to get things done," Barnes said
Texas led 30-24 at halftime.
Tech's points were its lowest in a first half and a game this season.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Improved to 20-3 (.870) against Texas Tech in the Rick Barnes era
- Improved to 24-4 (.857) against Texas Tech since the formation of the Big 12
- Improved to 89-9 (.908) against in-state foes during the Rick Barnes era, including 58-8 (.879) against the three Big 12 Texans
- Held an opponent under 40% FG shooting for the 11th time in 17 games. Texas sports a 161-15 (.915) mark in the Rick Barnes era when accomplishing the feat (10-1 this season)
- Outrebounded its opponent for the 13th time in 17 games this season
- Held Texas Tech scoreless over a span of 6:47 early in the first half, going on a 12-0 run to take a 14-8 lead with 10:37 remaining in the half
A.J. Abrams
- Moved into 16th place on the list for most career points in Big 12 history with 1,684, passing Texas A&M's Joseph Jones (1,679 - 2005-08)
- Moved to within three 3-point field goals of the Big 12 career record with 335. He trails only Jeff Boschee (338 - 1999-2002) on the conference's all-time list
- Scored 10 or more points for the 12th time this season and the 80th time in 126 career games
Connor Atchley
- Tied a career-high with three assists, equaling the mark he set on two occasions
Dogus Balbay
- Has logged 25 assists and just five turnovers over the last seven games
- Has logged 25 assists in the last seven games after totaling just eight assists in his first nine games
Matt Hill
- Pulled down a season-high five rebounds, besting the two caroms he grabbed on three separate occasions. It marked the most rebounds he grabbed since he pulled down six boards against Texas State on Dec. 16, 2006
- Scored a season-high six points, topping the five he scored against Appalachian State. It marked the most points he scored since his six-point effort against Nicholls State on Nov. 21, 2006
- Logged a career-high 27 minutes, topping the 23 minutes he logged against Alcorn State on Nov. 9, 2006
Damion James
- Scored 10 or more points for the 16th time this season and the 54th time in 90 career games
- Passed Alvin Heggs (1,003 - 1988-89) for 29th place on UT's career scoring list, ending the game with 1,019 points
Gary Johnson
- Scored 10 or more points for the 11th time this season and the 15th time in 39 career games
- Made his first start of the season and the third of his career
Justin Mason
- Scored 10 or more points for the fifth time this season and the 26th time in 90 career games
- Recorded his first career double-double
- Grabbed 10 or more rebounds for the first time this season and the third time in his career
- Equaled a career-high with 10 rebounds, matching the 10 boards he pulled down on two separate occasions
