The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
6-5
UAB
6-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama Birmingham | 27 | 33 | 60 |
| Texas | 43 | 53 | 96 |
Men's Basketball defeats UAB, 96-60
12.21.2016 | Men's Basketball
Freshman Jarrett Allen records 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting to pace five Longhorns in double-figure scoring during home victory.
AUSTIN, Texas – Freshman forward Jarrett Allen shot 8-of-9 from the floor and tied his career high with 16 points as Texas defeated UAB, 96-60, on Wednesday night at the Frank Erwin Center. The 36-point margin of victory marked a season best for the Longhorns, topping their 33-point win (85-52) on Nov. 17 against Eastern Washington.
Five Longhorns (6-5) scored in double figures, including a game-high 18 from sophomore guard/forward Tevin Mack in just 21 minutes of action. Freshman guard Andrew Jones recorded 16 points and six assists, while senior guard Kendal Yancy added 14 points and senior forward Shaquille Cleare posted 10 points and six boards. In addition, sophomore guard Kerwin Roach Jr. recorded a career-high six steals in only 21 minutes.
Texas went 12-of-12 from the free throw line, marking just the fourth time in program history (since 1960-61 when the statistic was first kept in school archives) that the Longhorns have been perfect from the free throw line as a team with at least 10 attempts. UT set single-game team season highs during the win in points, field goals made and attempted (36-of-67), field goal percentage (.537), 3-point field goals made (12), 3-point field goal percentage (.414), free throw percentage (1.000), assists (21) and steals (11).
UAB (6-6) senior guard Dirk Williams was the lone Blazer to reach double figures in scoring with a team-best 13 points.
Texas outscored the Blazers 9-2 to open the contest, capped by a 3-pointer from Jones at the 16:50 mark. UAB chipped away at the deficit and claimed its only lead of the game (12-11) following a 3-pointer from Williams with 14:15 remaining in the half. UT responded with a 7-0 run to grab an 18-12 lead with 12:03 left.
After converting just two of its first eight attempts from beyond the arc, the Longhorns went 4-for-8 in the final 7:16 of the half. Texas grabbed a 13-point advantage (33-20) off a pair of back-to-back treys from sophomore guard Eric Davis Jr. with 4:44 remaining. Mack drained two straight 3-pointers to extend the lead to 41-23 at the 3:38 mark. Texas maintained its double-digit cushion for the remainder of the half, taking a 43-27 lead into the break.
The Longhorns' hot shooting carried over into the second half. Texas opened the frame with an Allen dunk and a Jones 3-pointer to extend the lead to 48-27 at the 18:19 mark. The Longhorns continued to extend the advantage, topping the 30-point margin (77-46) following a Cleare layup with 8:27 remaining. Freshman guard Jacob Young and Yancy sank back-to-back threes in the final minutes to give Texas its largest lead of the night, 96-56, with 1:07 left.
Following a break for the holidays, Texas returns to action when it hosts Kent State on Tuesday, Dec. 27. Tip time is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central at the Erwin Center, and the game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 96, UAB 60
December 21, 2016
Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)
Attendance: 9,106
Team Notes
- Wednesday's contest marked the first meeting between Texas and UAB.
- The 36-point margin of victory marked a season best for the Longhorns (previous: 33 in 85-52 win vs. Eastern Washington on Nov. 17).
- The Longhorns improved to 483-113 all-time in home games at the Frank Erwin Center. The Horns improved to 211-30 at the Erwin Center in the last 15 seasons (since start of the 2002-03 season). Texas improved to 6-1 this season and 20-4 at home in the Shaka Smart era.
- UT converted 12-of-12 (100%) from the free throw line during the win. This marked the fourth time in school history (since the 1960-61 season, as far back as UT records were kept for free throws) that the Longhorns have been perfect from the free throw line as a team with at least 10 attempts (16-16 at Ole Miss on Dec. 2, 1972; 14-14 vs. SMU on Jan. 20, 1996; 11-11 at Oklahoma on Feb. 6, 2008).
- Texas set team single-game highs for this season in points (96), field goals made (36), field goals attempted (67), field goal percentage (.537), 3-point field goals made (12), 3-point FG percentage (.414), free throw percentage (1.000), assists (21) and steals (11).
- The Longhorns posted a 29-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Five Longhorns reached double figures in scoring for the second straight contest.
- Reached double figures in scoring (16 points) for the sixth time this year (11 games).
- Tied his season high in points and set a season high in field goals made (8-of-9).
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the third time this year (11 games) and fifth time in his UT career (44 games).
- Set a season high in assists (4), one shy of his career high (5 vs. UTSA on Dec. 8, 2015).
- Reached double figures in scoring (16 points) for the fifth time this year (11 games).
- His 16 points were one shy of his season high (17, twice).
- Set season high in 3-pointers made (4-of-7) and tied his season high in field goals made (6-of-9).
- His 6 assists were one shy of his season high (7 vs. Arkansas). Has 13 assists against 6 turnovers in his last two games.
- Reached double figures in scoring (18 points) for the ninth time this year (10 games) and 14th time in his career (43 games).
- Set a career high in steals (6). His previous high was 4 (vs. Vanderbilt on Jan. 30, 2016).
- Also added four assists without a turnover in 21 minutes.
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the fifth time this year (11 games) and 18th time in his career (109 games).
- Tied his season high in field goals made (5-of-7).
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On when he started to see his team take over the game: I think when you think with a clear mind and you just have a clarity of purpose in terms of following a process that we try to go execute on both ends of the floor, that allows your talent to take over. I thought this was really a good game for Snoop (Kerwin Roach). The stat sheet says six points, but he really made a difference earlier in the game with just the way he played on defense, and the way that he passed the ball. Just the look on his face and the aggressiveness with which he played I thought was really good.
On Kerwin Roach's defensive impact: He can be really good. You noticed tonight that he was quicker than he had been in certain other games and that's a mental thing. He had a clear mind, he was able to go out there and make reads. That press, you want a guy in that spot that can cover up a lot of ground and nobody can cover up as much ground as him.
On mentioning anxiety and tension: It comes from an overemphasis on results. That's the world that we live in and that's what you guys look at and that's what's on the stat sheet. But there's no anxiety in the process. There's no tension in the process. it's just a matter of having a level of trust. If I do things the way that we say that we're going to do things as an individual or as a team, then it will work out. Guys did a nice job of that tonight. It's easy to do that when you kind of want to get the ball rolling and you have a lead. We've got to make sure we're doing that more consistently, no matter what the scoreboard says.
Texas Freshman Guard Andrew Jones
On what clicked offensively: We started to trust each other more. Practice has been a real grind the past week, and it's about working on getting better and working on really sharing the ball. Once we did that, it puts the ball in transition, and it made our game more effective.
On if he feels like he can be the lead point guard: Yes. In high school, that's what I did. I led the team. I ran the show. Now that Coach is allowing me to do that more, it's restored a lot of confidence in me on the court. As we get closer to conference play, I just look to continue to improve and get better so I can run this team and get my guys like Jarrett [Allen] and the offense going.
On what jumps out to him about being a point guard: Being connected with the coach and playing smart and getting my most efficient shooters the ball. I take a lot of pride in causing the defense to have to help on D so I can dump it off to Jarrett or get Tevin Mack a shot.
Texas Freshman Forward Jarrett Allen
On the first half: In the first half, Coach said, "Just go hard for the first four minutes," and that's what I did. Everything just went my way.
On where this game ranks with aggressiveness and confidence: I think this game we came out and put the last game behind us. Arkansas was a tough loss. We just tried to bring the energy from that game and carry it over to this game. I think that's what we did.
UAB Head Coach Robert Ehsan
Opening statement: Very disappointing loss, the way in which it happened today. Give Texas a lot of credit. They played extremely well. Their pressure bothered us. They made a lot of threes. They got going from the perimeter. I don't have a stat sheet but it felt like 25 threes that they made and, again, we didn't show up to play for 40 minutes.
On expectations for Texas' effort: I've watched Coach Smart from afar for a while. His teams have always played with a certain level of grit and toughness. I felt coming off the Arkansas loss, they came out today with a very good mindset that we did not answer very well.
