The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Navy
Men's Basketball defeats Navy, 83-52
11.08.2010 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2010
Box Score | Box Score 
| Quotes | Notes | 
| Video: Postgame report
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Jordan Hamilton had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Texas opened the season with an 83-52 victory over Navy on Monday night in the first round of the 2K Sports Classic.
Playing with four new starters, Texas used a 23-9 run early in the second half to easily pull away from the poor-shooting Midshipmen.
Texas struggled from long range going 4 of 17 on 3-pointers, but dominated under the basket with a 50-30 rebounding edge and held Navy to 30 percent shooting. Free throw shooting, a problem for Texas last season, was still spotty as the Longhorns went 19 of 34.
Gary Johnson had 17 points and 10 rebounds and freshman Tristan Thompson scored 12 points for Texas.
The victory left Texas coach Rick Barnes just three shy of career win No. 500.
Mark Veazey scored 14 points for Navy.
TEXAS QUOTES
Head Coach Rick Barnes
On Jordan Hamilton: He's worked hard. Beginning last season, he's really worked hard. He wants to be coached. He wants to learn the game and not just on the offensive side of it. He's done some good things. I think tonight, he came out and was very much within himself. Overall, he did a lot of good things. He really was working hard on the defensive end. He made some really nice passes, got to the board. He did a little bit of everything.
On if what the team has worked on in the off season has translated to their play this season: I told the team at halftime, "Guys, really in our two scrimmages and even tonight, we haven't executed from the get-go yet." We played hard. I don't know what we do that works because we haven't done it. I said, "You'll fight for your space on the floor, you'll get there." It started happening in the second half, and we finally did get to what we wanted to do. You've got to give Navy credit. We didn't really know what to expect from them. They've got a lot of new people. They mixed their defenses. They kept us off balance a little bit. We really worked hard at putting the ball inside. We didn't do that until late. It was there, we could have done it earlier, but we didn't. It's good watching those guys play together, play hard. Every guy has improved. There are really a lot of good things.
On the Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson: I thought they both played hard. I'm not surprised by that because they've done that since day one. We knew they were really going to put a lot of people around the ball in the post. Tristan [Thompson] wasn't ready a couple of times, but the game is a little faster than he probably expected. Cory [Joseph] did some good things. He got in some foul trouble. I think he was trying too hard at some points. Those guys are going to be fine. They will be playing a lot of minutes for us. Overall, just a great team effort. Everyone was there helping each other.
On what the team improved upon in the second half: Fighting for the space on the floor. We never once deflated their defense in the first half. We did a much better job in the second half.
Senior Forward Gary Johnson
On his role as a rebounder: I'm just trying to pick up where guys left off as far as Dex[ter Pittman] and Damion [James]. I'm nowhere near as good as those guys, but I'm trying to pick up the slack for the team a little bit.
On Jordan Hamilton's all-around game: He defended well. That's not going to show up in the stat sheet when you look in the paper tomorrow. He played really good defense tonight. He rebounded as well. He had a really good game.
Sophomore Guard Forward Jordan Hamilton
On his two dunks in the second half: Two great passes from J'Covan Brown. He finds guys in the open court and it helped us in transition.
On bringing intensity to all areas of the game: Most of the time I'm known as a shooter. I want to be known more than that. That's why I crashed the boards and tried my best out there to defend. I know I blocked a shot. I'm just trying to come and play in all aspects of the game
Freshman Forward Tristan Thompson
On playing in his first game at Texas: It was very exciting, especially the first game. The jitters come in. It feels like [being] a kid again, at Christmas opening a present. Once the game started and tipped off, I felt comfortable and happy to be here.
On his comfort level: I think it's because of my teammates. They make us feel real comfortable. We feel as one like one of their brothers. They make us feel comfortable. That helps the jitters go away even quicker.
NAVY QUOTES
Head Coach Billy Lange
Opening statement: It was an exciting event for us to be in here bringing some guys back from Texas. We probably got too excited with our fouls and jumping around and taking some shots that were a little erring. I'm proud of some of the things that I saw out of our guys. I think you've got to keep it in great perspective when you play a team like Texas; great players, great coaches, great history, and we'll try to build on it.
On containing Texas inside: I think we started off the game great doing it. The problem is when you do that and you pack it in like that, then you have number three roaming around, it's hard to ask your guys to do two things; keep it out of the inside, and then stop Hamilton from getting wide open three-point shots. I thought we did a great job in the first half. In the second half, I think we just lost our way a little bit and stopped competing a little bit underneath there.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Improved to 86-19 in season openers, including 11-2 in openers under Rick Barnes
- Won its ninth consecutive season opener, including the eighth in a row by a margin of 21 points or more
- Has outscored opponents by an average of 36.8 points over the last eight season openers
- Improved to 90-15 in home openers, including a 29-5 mark since moving to the Erwin Center
- Improved to 77-7 (.917) at the Erwin Center in the last six seasons [dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season] and 167-22 (.884) at the Erwin Center under Rick Barnes
- Improved to 7-0 all-time against current members of the Patriot League, including 2-0 versus Navy
- Has outscored opponents by an average of 36.8 points over the last eight season openers
- Texas owned a 50-30 rebounding advantage, including 28-15 in the first half
- Registered a 4.00 (12-to-3) assist-to-turnover ratio in the second half after registering a 0.33 (4-to-12) clip in the first half
J'Covan Brown
- Recorded a career-high with six assists, tying the six assists he registered against Nebraska (2-13-10).
Jordan Hamilton
- Made his first collegiate start
- Recorded his second career double-double (26 points, 10 rebounds)
- Reached double-digits in scoring for the 19th time in his career
- Scored 20 or more points for the third time in his career
- Reached double-digits in rebounding for the second time in his career
Matt Hill
- Made his first collegiate start
- Logged his most minutes since his redshirt sophomore season when he played 27 against Texas Tech on Jan. 17
Cory Joseph
- Became the 25th player in school history to start a season opener as a freshman (NCAA allowed freshmen to play varsity beginning in 1972-73)
- Became the ninth player under Rick Barnes to start a season opener as a freshman
Gary Johnson
- Recorded his sixth career double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds)
- Reached double-digits in scoring for the 37th time in his career
- Reached double-digits in rebounding for the seventh time in his career
Tristan Thompson
- Reached double-digits in scoring (12 points) for the first time in his career
Alexis Wangmene
- Equaled a career-high with eight points, matching the mark he accomplished on four prior occasions
