The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
USC
Men's Basketball tops USC, 69-50
12.03.2009 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2009
| Quotes | Box Score | Box Score | Notes
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- After a tough win at Rice last weekend, Texas coach Rick Barnes brought his team back to campus and put them through two days of what he always falls back when things get a little ugly: defense.
Point made, point taken.
With the second-ranked Longhorns still trying to find all the right pieces on offense, Texas rolled to a 69-50 win over Southern California on Thursday night with a defensive effort that held the Trojans to 30 percent shooting.
"Everything starts with defense," Texas point guard Dogus Balbay said. "Play defense, really hard, and the offense will come."
Damion James scored 19 points for the Longhorns (6-0) and Dexter Pittman had 13 points and seven blocks, one shy of the school record.
Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points for USC, but fouled out with 5 minutes to play. The Trojans (2-3) have lost six straight away from home dating to last season.
USC coach Kevin O'Neill knew coming in the outcome was likely considering Texas' roster depth his own team's road struggles.
"We are what we are. We really don't have enough right now, obviously, to come here and win," O'Neill said. "I didn't learn anything I didn't know coming in here."
Texas forced 17 turnovers and seldom let the Trojans get an open shot. The Longhorns needed that kind of defensive pressure to make up for their own 41 percent shooting and going 19 of 34 from the free-throw line. The Longhorns were just 2 of 11 on 3-point attempts.
Barnes seemed happier with the defense than any worries he had about the shooting misfires.
"We did the things that we talked about doing," Barnes said. "Offensively, we missed some shots, but if we made some more free throws, we'd feel better about our shooting."
James had 15 points and six rebounds in the first half as the Longhorns took a 33-27 lead.
The Trojans led 23-19 before Texas closed the first half with a 14-4 run. A steal by Avery Bradley led to a fastbreak dunk by James, who was fouled and made the free throw for a 31-25 lead.
"I opened up (the lane) myself. I made me a driving lane," James said. "If it's a driving lane or a jump shot, I take what the defense gives me."
Vucevic scored 10 points in the half and USC limited Pittman to five shots. But Pittman was a force on defense, tying his previous career high with five blocks in the first half.
Pittman opened the second half with his sixth, this time on Vucevic and USC started running into foul trouble. Starting forward Marcus Johnson picked up his fourth less than 4 minutes into the second half.
Texas led by 10 when James tumbled hard and got up grimacing and holding his left elbow. He went to the bench with 15:30 left and stayed there for nearly 3 minutes.
Without him, Texas went scoreless and missed six consecutive free throws. But USC couldn't close the gap and Texas led 44-34 when James returned.
USC cut the lead to four before James and J'Covan Brown made three free throws and Brown hit a 3-pointer with 8:05 to play, Texas' first of the game. Brown finished with 11 points.
Texas led 60-47 when Vucevic fouled out when he leaned into Justin Mason and threw an elbow.
It was the first meeting between the Trojans and Longhorns since USC beat Texas in the second round of the 2007 NCAA tournament, former Longhorn Kevin Durant's last college game.
Texas defended its highest ranking in school history. It reached No. 2 in the AP rankings this week, tying the mark last reached by the Longhorns in December 2005.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas held its last two opponents to a combined 2-of-20 (.100) shooting from three-point range and are limiting foes to .206 (21-102) on the season
- Texas started the season 6-0 for the third time in the last five years
- Texas evened the series with USC at 5-5 years
- Texas improved to 3-0 in Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series action. The Horns won 63-61 at No. 2/1 UCLA on Dec. 2, 2007 and posted a 68-64 home victory against No. 12/9 UCLA on Dec. 4, 2008
- Opened the season with six wins by double-digit margins for just the fourth time in school history (1915-16, 1921-22, 2007-08), with two in the last three years
- Texas held USC to .304 shooting from the field, improving to 171-17 (.910) in the Rick Barnes era when holding opponents under .400 shooting
- Texas blocked 10 or more shots in a game for the third time this season
Dogus Balbay
- Made his first start of the season and the 14th of his career
J'Covan Brown
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the sixth time this season
Damion James
- Reached double figures in scoring (19 points) for fifth time this season and the 74th time in 114 career games
- Ended the game with 1,402 points to become the 16th player in school history to reach the 1,400-point plateau, two shy of Chris Mihm (1,404 - 1998-2000) for 15th place on the UT career scoring list
- Ended the game with 1,028 rebounds to pass LaSalle Thompson (1,027 - 1980-82) for second place on the UT career rebounding list
Justin Mason
- Registered season-highs for points (7), rebounds (6) and steals (2)
Dexter Pittman
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the fifth time this season and the 23rd time in 106 career games
- Registered a career-high seven blocks, topping the three he posted on three prior occasions, one shy of the UT school record (7 - Chris Owens vs. California - Nov. 15, 2000 & Chris Mihm at Massachusetts - Feb. 5, 2000)
- Blocked five shots in the first half, one shy of the UT record (6 - Chris Mihm at Massachusetts - Feb. 5, 2000)
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
Opening Statement: I think the first four minutes of a game are very important. We came back from the Rice game and were really working on defense, so we went with a defensive team. On the perimeter, I thought Dogus [Balbay] and Justin [Mason] were terrific. Avery did a good job defensively. He probably pressed a little too much offensively, but we've got to set the tone early defensively. We did the things that we talked about doing coming in tonight. We spent two days of practice on defense. Offensively, we missed some shots, but if we made some more free throws, we'd feel better about our shooting.
On Damion James' performance: I thought Damion was really good tonight. His focus was great tonight. After the Rice game, he had two really great days of practice. He really got down to stance tonight and did some good things. Offensively, he wasn't really looking to press anything. I thought everyone went in and tried to do some good things. The attitude was there defensively. Dex [Pittman] missed six or eights points at the rim in the first half, which is harder than it looks because of big bodies in there.
JUNIOR Dogus Balbay
On the team getting a consistent offensive flow: We don't really worry about it right now, because we're trying to set our defense. We know our offense will come if we play good defense. Everything starts with defense. We're just going to go out there and play defense, play really hard, and then offense will come.
On how he thought the team played: I think we did better compared to our game against Rice. We went out there, played hard and pressured the ball. The young guys did a good job, especially J'Covan [Brown], Jordan [Hamilton] and Avery [Bradley]. They really try to play hard and they helped us. I can tell we're getting better on defense.
USC QUOTES
HEAD COACH KEVIN O'NEILL
Opening statement: We obviously got a little worn down in the second half. I thought our guys fought hard. We really don't have quite enough right now, obviously, to come here and win. That's just the way it is. We are what we are. We've still got two guys that are potential starters that won't be with us until Christmas time off a team that lost six of its top seven and its whole recruiting class. What we're going to have to do is keep playing hard, keep trying to defend and stay together. I thought our guys fought hard. I'm proud of their effort.
On Texas: Obviously Texas is a very good basketball team. They had a stretch in the second half when it was tight and they really made some plays defensively, forced some turnovers. We couldn't knock down any shots and all of a sudden they spurted away there. Their depth finally caught up with us.
On the play of sophomore Nikola Vucevic: He's getting better every game. He had a tough game against Nebraska at home. It's his first time, really, playing this kind of minutes and doing these kind of things. He's going to be a good player. He's got a chance. I really liked how he competed. I liked how hard he played.
