The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Coppin State
No. 13 Men's Basketball defeats Coppin State, 95-75
12.31.2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2010
Game Stats 
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- In its first New Year's Eve game in 14 years, No. 13 Texas wanted to end 2010 on a high note.
The Longhorns did just that.
Jordan Hamilton hit five 3-pointers and scored 24 points to help Texas beat Coppin State 95-75 on Friday.
Tristan Thompson scored a career-high 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Longhorns (11-2).
"I thought we broke out today, and we wanted to end 2010 right," Texas guard J'Covan Brown said. "We've got to bring that to the next part of the season."
With 11 minutes remaining in the game and the Eagles (4-7) trailing 57-52, Hamilton stole an inbounds pass and converted a layup on the fast break. Hamilton was fouled on the play and his free throw completed the three-point play.
The Longhorns pulled away the rest of the game. Hamilton gave the Longhorns an 83-61 lead after rebounding a missed free throw by Thompson for an easy layup.
"It's all about being hungry, we always talk about being more hungry," Thompson said of Texas outrebounding the Eagles 47-17. "If everyone has intentions of being active on the glass, it will show."
Tony Gallo scored 22 points for Coppin State and Michael Harper added 18.
Freshman Cory Joseph hit Texas' first shot of the game, a 3-pointer from the wing against Coppin State's 2-3 zone. Guard Akeem Ellis countered quickly for the Eagles hitting a 3-pointer from the wing to tie it.
However, Joseph continued to find his offensive stroke scoring six of Texas' points in a 13-0 run.
Harper helped Coppin State back from a quick 16-3 deficit with 15 first-half points, connecting on 3 of 5 3-pointers.
With 7 minutes remaining in the first half, Brown found Thompson running the baseline and lofted it up for an alley-oop dunk that gave Texas a 29-13 lead. Harper was again instrumental in bringing Coppin State back, making consecutive 3-pointers with under 5 minutes remaining in the first half.
Harper connected on a shot as time expired to help cut Texas' lead to 41-28.
The Eagles continued to cut into the lead as Ellis hit a quick runner in the lane followed by a 3-pointer to start the second half. After a 3 by Coppin State's Jordan Lee, Thompson threw down a dunk for a 43-36 lead.
With just under 15 minutes remaining, Gallo provided a huge spark for the Eagles hitting three straight 3-pointers. He completed a four-point play with 12:44 left to tie the game 52-52.
"They made shots, and at the 3-point line they made the shots," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We didn't. We missed some shots and they were feeling pretty good."
Thompson felt the Coppin State run will be seen a positive for Texas.
"That was good for us, and it helps us grow as a team," Thompson said. "We were either going to come together or grow apart, and you saw that we came together."
Brown scored 14 points in the second half for the Longhorns, nailing two 3-pointers in the game's final 2 minutes.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas owned a +30 advantage in rebounding (47-17), the fourth-best rebounding edge in school history (records available since 1961-62 season)
- Texas recorded its 26th consecutive non-conference home win and improved to 71-2 in non-conference home games since the start of the 2002-03 season
- Texas improved to 84-7 (.923) at the Erwin Center in the last six seasons [dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season] and 174-22 (.888) at the Erwin Center
under Rick Barnes
- Texas won its 399th game at the Frank Erwin Center
- Texas posted a home attendance season high with 12,804
- Texas had five different players reach double digits in scoring for the second time this season
- Texas made a season-high 13 three-point field goals, topping the 11 the Horns made against Texas State and Rice
- Texas outscored Coppin State 43-23 down the stretch after the Eagles tied the score at 52-52 with 12:44 remaining in the game
- Texas improved to 3-0 all-time versus Coppin State
- Texas equaled a season high with 19 assists, matching the total it recorded against Texas State
- Texas' 11 wins is the second-highest total for the Longhorns before January 1, trailing only the 12 wins the Longhorns had last year - Texas also won 11 games before January 1 in 2007-08
J'Covan Brown
- Reached double digits in scoring (17 points) for the sixth time this season and the 21st time in his career (46 games)
- Matched a career high with six assists, tying the total he recorded on two separate occasions
- Recorded a career high with five made three-point field goals, topping the four he registered earlier this year against Texas State
Jordan Hamilton
- Reached double digits in scoring (24 points) for the 12th time this season and the 30th time in his career (47 games)
- Scored 20 or more points for the seventh time this season and the ninth time in his career
- Matched a career high with five made three-point field goals, tying the total he recorded on two separate occasions
Gary Johnson
- Reached double digits in scoring (10 points) for the ninth time this season and the 45th time in his career (101 games)
Cory Joseph
- Reached double digits in scoring (13 points) for the seventh time this season
- Recorded a career high with five assists, topping the four he registered on four occasions
Tristan Thompson
- Scored a career-high in 22 points, topping the 20 he scored against Illinois in the third game of the season
- Reached double digits in scoring for the ninth time this season
- Scored 20 or more points for the second time this season
- Made a career-high eight free throws, topping the six he made against Rice
- Scored all seven of his field goals on dunks
TEXAS QUOTES
Sophomore guard J'Covan Brown
On his attacking the zone defense in the second half: When I was sitting on the bench, I was thinking that our guards weren't really attacking. So, I had it in my mind when coach put me in, to find the big men down low, and I did it too times in a row.
On responding after giving up the four-point play: That was a good shot by the kid. I had my hand in his face, and he knocked down a big shot. So, I had to come back in transition. Cory [Joseph] found me on the wing and it was open, so I took the shot.
Freshman forward Tristan Thompson
On the guards creating shots for him: It is always fun getting everyone involved. J'Covan [Brown] would have had 12 assists if myself and other guys converted on some plays. But, in terms of everyone getting involved, I think it was a whole team effort.
On the mood of the team after Coppin State's second-half run: That was good for us. It helps us grow as a team and see if we come together or if we are going to split apart. And you can see by the result, we came together, and we stayed focus and turned it up especially against a team like this, that was running on momentum. It is important to keep pushing and hope we break them down like we did.
Head Coach Rick Barnes
On how the team played tonight: This team has always been a tough, hard-nosed team. They're going to play hard, and they're going to battle. They played a brutal schedule where they had to travel a lot. Early in the game, we let them get going from the three-point line because we had our hands down, but they made some tough ones too. They spread us out a little bit, trying to push out and take away the three-point shot. But you do what we did on the boards, 22 offensive rebounds, and we moved the ball. I liked the fact that we had 19 assists in the first half. One thing I did get on the guys about in the first half was the nine turnovers. We gave them ten points off turnovers. Some of that was being too unselfish. We could have taken a lot more threes than we did. We ended up taking 29 of them, and you look at the ones Jordan [Hamilton] had, we'd like for him to take those every night. Then we tried to force it inside, which wasn't good. But overall, it was good.
On J'Covan Brown's run in the second half: What we were trying to get him to do was to move the ball around the perimeter. We wanted to see him drive the gaps, and he started doing that. Getting the ball inside doesn't necessarily mean give it to the post guy, but also to drive the ball. I told him that they would be very content with us just swinging the ball and shooting it, even though I have confidence we can make threes. But, you want to work the game, and by doing that, it sets you up for great offensive rebounds. But, J'Covan, did a lot of good things. He had one turnover he just threw in there, but other than that, when we went him in, we said for him to drive the ball. He has great vision, he made a couple great finds, and did some good things. And defensively, he worked on that end as well.
COPPIN STATE QUOTES
Head Coach Ronald "Fang" Mitchell
Opening Statement: We wanted to start off and get Texas into shooting jump shots. I think early in the game we were successful, but their physical presence just wore us out as the game progressed. When it came down to it we didn't have any kind of defense for their big kids, especially when they started shooting their jump shots and making them it started becoming a long night.
On tying the game at 52-52: When you tie it it's just a situation where my main concern then is getting our kids to continue to play after that timeout, because they have a tendency to relax a little bit. They definitely relaxed a little bit after that. It was Texas that created the problem for us because of the constant pressure they put us under by getting the ball up and down the floor as quickly as they did.
On attempting 27 three-point shots for the game: I was looking on my bench and I was thinking about who I had in there that was strong and physical but he got some fouls in real quick. So, I'm not Einstein but I knew when you don't have that low presence you're going to have to take some outside shots and use our athleticism against their great athleticism.
