The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Lamar
No. 19 Men's Basketball tops Lamar, 76-55
12.01.2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2010
Box Score 
| Box Score | 
| Notes | Quotes
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- For a coach whose team fumbled the ball away throughout a 21-point win, Rick Barnes sounded pretty happy.
All he wanted to talk about was the 19th-ranked Longhorns' defense.
"Nothing about it was pretty," Barnes said after Texas had 23 turnovers in a sloppy 76-55 win over Lamar. "(But) for two days, we've done nothing but defense. ... I felt our biggest improvement had to be on the defensive end."
The Longhorns (6-1) forced 21 turnovers and held the Cardinals to 26 percent shooting to run their non-conference home winning streak to 23.
Freshman point guard Cory Joseph had 16 points and nine rebounds and freshman forward Tristan Thompson had his second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Barnes got his 300th victory in 13 seasons at Texas. He was already the winningest coach in program history.
A 14-2 run by Texas to open the second half put the Longhorns ahead by 21 and opened up a game that saw 25 turnovers in the first half.
Texas missed 11 of its first 17 shots and trailed 11-5 early before Lamar started putting up wild shots and giving the ball away. The Cardinals (4-3) had 15 turnovers, almost half of them on traveling calls, in the first half.
Texas' turnovers came on a variety of passes that either caught teammates by surprise or went straight to a Lamar defender. The Longhorns are still working on new wrinkles in Barnes' offense.
Texas shot 45 percent against a team that gave up height and size at nearly every position.
"I think we could have made a lot more shots," said Longhorns forward Jordan Hamilton, who played all 40 minutes and scored 16 points. "We could have played harder on offense like we did on defense."
Barnes singled out Hamilton for his work on defense.
"He got in the stance, he was working and helping away from the ball," Barnes said.
Texas held Lamar scoreless for 6 minutes and took the lead on Hamilton's first 3-pointer. After making nine 3-pointers in the second half of Saturday's win over Rice, the Longhorns were 3 of 11 in the first half against Lamar. Joseph made two and the Longhorns led 34-25 at halftime.
Joseph's third 3-pointer sparked the Texas run to start the second half. Two more turnovers by Lamar, a three-point play by Dogus Balbay and a long jumper by Gary Johnson, who finished with 10 points, put Texas ahead 48-27.
Another rash of turnovers helped Lamar chip away at the lead. The Cardinals got within 12 when Kendrick Harris' fast-break layup made it 56-44.
Jai Lucas then cut in for a reverse layup off a sharp pass from Hamilton and made a free throw for the Longhorns to end the Lamar run. Hamilton's 3-pointer with 4 minutes left put Texas ahead 69-49.
"They are very long, very athletic, physical and strong," Lamar coach Steve Roccaforte said. "Texas is about what I expected."
After three straight home wins, Texas plays USC on Sunday night in Los Angeles in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Rick Barnes picked up his 300th victory at Texas
- Texas owned a rebounding advantage (48-42) for the seventh consecutive game
- Texas improved to 5-0 all-time against Lamar
- Texas record its 23rd consecutive non-conference home win
- Texas improved to 81-7 (.920) at the Erwin Center in the last six seasons [dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season] and 171-22 (.886) at the Erwin Center under Rick Barnes
- Texas improved to 103-15 (.873) against in-state foes during the Barnes era
- Texas held an opponent under 30.0% shooting for the second time this season and under 40.0% for the fifth time
Jordan Hamilton
- Reached double digits in scoring (16 points) for the seventh time this season and the 25th time in his career (41 games)
- Played a career-high 40 minutes, topping the 32 minutes he played on two previous occasions
Matt Hill
- Matched a career high with three blocked shots, equaling his total from two prior occasions
- Equaled a season high and came up one rebound shy of a career high with six rebounds
Gary Johnson
- Reached double digits in scoring (10 points) for the fourth time this season and the 40th time in his career (95 games)
Cory Joseph
- Recorded a career high in scoring for the second consecutive game with 16 points, topping the 10 he logged against Rice in Texas' last game
- Reached double digits in scoring for the third time this season
- Recorded a career high with nine rebounds, topping the seven he recorded against Louisiana Tech
- Matched a career high with four assists, equaling his total from three previous games
- Recorded a career high with six field goals, topping his total against Rice in Texas' last game
Tristan Thompson
- Registered his second career double-double (11 points and 13 rebounds)
- Reached double digits in scoring for the sixth time this season
- Reached double digits in rebounding for the second time this season
- Registered a career high in rebounding for the second consecutive game with 13 boards, topping the 10 he logged against Rice in Texas' last game
TEXAS QUOTES
Head Coach Rick Barnes
On the team being more eager to pass inside tonight: Well, we should have passed it from half-court when they were in that 2-2-1, just in a tempo press. We could have made the pass to the middle and passed out of that. We wanted to flow more into our offense which we didn't do. We got down and early in the game we missed some shots, and if you make those shots it changes the game where they can't stay in zone. We saw at the end of the game, they went into man, and we scored out of it.
On the defensive play: The other thing we did that was really good, was we spent the last two days working on our defense, and the best part over the last two days, was we would go offense-defense, but Jordan Hamilton wanted to stay on the defensive end the entire time. I thought tonight, he came out and did as well as he has maybe done his entire time here. He made some terrific deliveries in the first half, which we should have got some things out of, but we didn't get. I was just really proud to see it carry over. As a group, we really tried to work hard and we knew these guys were going to drive the ball. And we determined we were going to shut down the three-point line, which we did, because they have been shooting a bunch of threes. And with that, being quick, and we worked really hard on coming over and making some plays. We had nine blocks, and that is where you have to get them. And we actually did a really good job, for the most part, where we talked about our help defense couldn't get scored on. When you have a team shooting 25%, you have to be happy with that. So, the things we really worked on for two days, even though from the offensive end it wasn't really pretty, but the defensive end is where we can really get better. We're going to be okay offensively, but I am telling you for two days, we have done nothing but defense, and I like the carryover from that.
On playing Jordan Hamilton the whole game: He was working hard, and I thought he had a smaller guy on him sometimes that was quick, and he really fought to get in front of the ball. He did a lot of good things defensively, and he stayed with it. He got in the stance, he was working and helping away from the ball. But for two days, that is all he has done is play defense.
On if Hamilton has changed as a player since leaving Los Angeles: You have all seen him, he is such a different player. His concentration is really good, and I can add in that a couple of those guys have had a tough week academically here. They had exams this week, and some of the things going on behind-the-scenes that they need to worry about, some of those guys handled those things really well, and he was one of them. I look where he had four assists, but he could have had nine or ten, because he was really looking to deliver it, and he delivered some passes that led to shots that we needed to make.
Freshman Guard Cory Joseph
On the team's turnovers: I feel that we didn't execute the way we wanted to today. That's why they caused a lot of turnovers.
On having more of his shots fall lately: My three-point shots have been falling down the last couple of games. Earlier in the season they weren't. Against the zone, we try to work inside out. We try to get the ball inside. When they collapse they get the perimeter guys open looks, so that's how I've been able to get into a rhythm and knock them down.
On if he feels more settled on offense: I feel better. I'm just trying to find my rhythm. I think I'm doing better.
Sophomore Forward Jordan Hamilton
On the sloppiness of the game: I think we could have executed more in the zone, gotten more passes and gotten to the basket more. We missed a lot of layups inside that we should have made in the first and second half. I think we played hard defensively. Now we just have to make shots.
On driving and passing against the zone: I just try to get guys open. I know guys are going to try to collapse on me. If I see the my post man open I'm going to kick it to him.
LAMAR QUOTES
Head Coach Steve Roccaforte
On tonight's game: Texas is a very good basketball team. We had the opportunity to watch every game that they have played. They have played some pretty tough teams. They are very long, very athletic, very physical and strong. They have got some guys who can really shoot the ball. They are about what I expected them to be coming in. I knew size was going to be a factor. I was concerned about the inside play and rebounding. It turned out that our inability to make shots, which I feel is a reflection of their defense. Coach Barnes is a very good defensive coach, they are very tough defensively. Texas is about what I expected. They are a top 20 team and I thought they played good.
On the zone defense: It is hard for me to say because the only thing I remember is when we didn't rotate and they got the ball inside and they got some backside rebounds when we missed shots. That's what's sticking in my mind right now. Texas is just a hard cover man-to-man. I knew coming in we could not keep up with them man-to-man.
On if Texas should expect to see a lot of zone defense this year: It depends. They may from non-conference opponents, after they watch [the Rice game] after they see [our game]. I think once they get into league play, the teams will hang their hat on their play and that's what we're going to do in conference. In our conference play I don't anticipate playing too much zone. I think Texas was pretty patient tonight. They know where to get the ball in the zone. They do a good job of trying to get the ball inside.
