The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Long Beach State
No. 2 Men's Basketball defeats Long Beach State, 107-74
12.07.2009 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2009
Box Score 
| Box Score | 
| Notes | Quotes
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas found some of that missing offense, with a pack of freshmen leading the way.
Avery Bradley scored 17 points and Jordan Hamilton and J'Covan Brown each scored 13 as the No. 2 Longhorns routed Long Beach State 107-74 on Monday night
"We get better every single day," Bradley said of Texas' group of freshmen, considered by many to be the best in the country. "I think tonight it showed that we're improving every single day."
After two games filled with offensive struggles, Texas (7-0) scored its most points in five seasons, shot 59 percent and had 33 points off 23 turnovers by Long Beach State. Texas also had 23 assists against 11 turnovers. Point guard Dogus Balbay, making just his second start of the season, directed the offense with a career-high 11 assists.
"I'm just glad they finished all the passes I delivered," Balbay said. "If they keep finishing, I'm going to keep doing it."
Stephan Gilling scored 19 points to lead Long Beach State (4-4).
"On paper, we're supposed to be better than that," Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said. "I told [Texas coach Rick] Barnes I was disappointed we couldn't give them a better game than that. But this is Texas' show. They dominated us physically from the get-go."
Long Beach State, which plays in the Big West Conference, still has some tough game non-conference games on the schedule with matchups against Kentucky and Duke later this month.
Texas got its best production of the season from the freshmen, most notably from Bradley, who was ranked by some as the top recruit in the nation. Bradley was 7 of 13 shooting with two 3-pointers, two assists and two steals. Hamilton was 6 of 12 from the field.
"Coach said sometimes I need to look to score. I wanted to come out and be aggressive," Bradley said. "If I miss a shot, I'm looking to make the next one."
Hamilton scored 11 and Bradley scored 10 as Texas shot 61 percent in the first half. Balbay, a junior, provided the early spark with four assists in the first five minutes.
The freshmen hooked up nicely when Hamilton started a fast break with a steal and passed to Brown, who then fired the ball to Bradley in the corner for a 3-pointer and a 44-27 lead.
Brown ended the first half with a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, then a spinning layup at the buzzer to give Texas a 52-37 lead at the break.
Balbay opened the second half by finding Bradley for another 3-pointer, then blocked a 3-point attempt by Larry Anderson.
Senior Damion James, who came in leading Texas in scoring and rebounding this season -- he's averaging a double-double -- picked up his third foul less than two minutes into the second and went to the bench. He finished with 14 points, but the Texas offense managed just fine without him on this night.
Balbay kept finding creases for nifty passes and assists. Hamilton came back in and immediately forced another turnover, then set up Brown for another 3-pointer and a 62-43 lead.
Texas kept forcing points with defense. A Long Beach State turnover led to Balbay's 10th assist when he spotted Brown on an inbound pass for yet another easy 3-pointer. After another turnover, Hamilton then fed Dexter Pittman for a dunk.
"We've come a long way in five weeks," Barnes said. "[But] We're a long way from being the team I envision. I want to be the team that can be relentless every possession on defense and offense. I want people to say 'They are nasty and they are going to keep coming."'
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas scored 100 or more points for the 103rd time in school history and the first time since beating New Mexico State 102-87 at the StubHub! Legends Classic in Newark, N.J. on Nov. 23, 2007
- Texas is 94-9 all-time when scoring 100 or more points in a game and 60-1 at home
- Texas scored its most points since topping Prairie View A&M 110-38 on Dec. 30, 2005
- Texas started the season 7-0 for the third time in the last five years
- Texas improved to 4-3 all-time against Long Beach State
- Texas improved to 12-5 all-time against current members of the Big West Conference
- Texas opened the season with seven wins by double-digit margins for the first time since the 1921-22 season and just the third time in school history (1915-16, 1921-22, 2009-10)
- Texas opened the season with seven wins by margins of 15 or more points for the first time in school history
- Texas' bench outscored LBSU's bench 61-11
- Texas had five players reach double-figures in scoring for the fourth time this season
- Texas had six players reach double-figures in scoring
Dogus Balbay
- Balbay had 11 assists and no turnovers in 24 minutes
- Reached double figures in assists (11) for the first time in his career. He became the first UT player to log 10 or more assists since D.J. Augustin recorded 10 at Baylor on Feb. 16, 2008
Avery Bradley
- Scored a career-high 17 points, topping the 11 he had against Iowa
- Reached double figures in scoring for the fourth time this season
J'Covan Brown
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the seventh time this season
Jordan Hamilton
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the fourth time this season
- Logged a career-high six field goals, topping the five he posted on two prior occasions
Damion James
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for sixth time this season and the 75th time in 115 career games
- Ended the game with 1,416 points to pass Chris Mihm (1,404 - 1998-2000) for 15th place on the UT career scoring list
- Ended the game with 1,034 to move within 43 rebounds of James Thomas (1,077 - 2001-04) for the school record
Gary Johnson
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the second time this season and the 23rd time in 61 career games
- Had his highest scoring output since logging 17 points at Texas A&M (Feb. 16, 2009) last season [13 games]
Dexter Pittman
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the sixth time this season and the 24th time in 107 career games
TEXAS QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On turnovers and overall impression of game: We talked a lot about taking care of the ball and that doesn't just mean preventing turnovers. We had 11 turnovers. J'Covan (Brown) had six of them, and I think he got a little too relaxed and was trying to hit too many home run passes moving the ball. That was a big focus coming in. We wanted to be more efficient with our offense. Overall, I thought we stayed focused offensively. They put pressure on you. But overall, there were some good things for us.
On midrange shots by Avery Bradley: I thought Avery settled in. Again, it is tempo and even some of his passes that he threw, he gets a little going too quick and throws harder passes than he needs to make. Sometimes, you have to throw a pass that might lead to an assist. He actually missed two 3-pointers and came over and said, `Coach, should I shoot it anymore?'. I said to him `Well, you definitely want to take a mid-range shot and get settled in and it comes back to you, You have to get it in and make those shots.' He did exactly that. He drove in, hit a mid-range shot. A couple possessions later, it came back to him and he took his time and it looked good.
SENIOR Jordan Hamilton
On what was different for him in today's game: I think going into the seventh game, we are a lot more comfortable in practice. We get more comfortable so we can bring it to the game. Coach and I have been working on shots in the wings other than threes. I think I used that in the game tonight getting to the basket.
On what he does to get open for Dogus Balbay: He always tells me to run to the corner, so we can have more spacing and then Dogus can always find an opening toward the middle of the court. He gets to the right spot and he throws the right passes.
JUNIOR Dogus Balbay
On the offense tonight: It was actually pretty good. We knew that before the game they were going to come out and run, so we had to run too. I was just trying to run it and open up shots for my teammates. I am glad they finished all the passes I delivered. If they keep finishing those passes, I am going to keep doing it.
FRESHMAN Avery Bradley
On trying to make more shots: My coach always tells me that I need to look to score and not always look to pass. I just wanted to come out and be aggressive tonight.
On overall freshman performance: I think we did well. We get better every single day. Our teammates and our coaches they just help us get better on both ends of the floor. I think tonight it showed that we have continued to get better every day.
LONG BEACH STATE QUOTES
HEAD COACH DAN MONSON
Opening statement: I want to thank Coach Barnes for giving us the opportunity to come in here. He has a first class program and a first class team. Scheduling was difficult for us this year, because on paper we're supposed to be better than that. I was disappointed that we weren't able to play better and give them a better game.
On how Texas compared with other opponents LBSU has played: This is Texas's show and we are who we are. We play a pretty daunting pre-season schedule for a reason. You can tell our guys that we need to work on some things and sometimes it's a painful lesson for them to see it. Texas gave us that painful lesson today. They dominated us physically from the get go. Nobody has dominated us quite like that. Hopefully we can learn from it and move on.
