The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
17-9, 8-5
West Virginia
20-6, 9-4
No. 24/25 Men's Basketball defeats No. 10/11 West Virginia, 85-78
02.16.2016 | Men's Basketball
Longhorns sweep season series against the Mountaineers behind 23-point effort from Taylor.
AUSTIN, Texas – Junior guard Isaiah Taylor scored a game-high 23 points and added seven assists to lead No. 24/25 Texas to an 85-78 win over No. 10/11 West Virginia on Tuesday night at the Frank Erwin Center. Taylor sank all 13 of his attempts from the free throw line, including an 11-for-11 mark in the second half. Freshman guard Eric Davis Jr. scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Texas (17-9, 8-5 Big 12) improved to 13-1 at home this season, including a 3-0 mark against AP Top 20 opponents. The Longhorns have now defeated West Virginia in six of their last seven meetings, including a 56-49 win in Morgantown earlier this year (Jan. 20).
UT shot 48.1-percent from the field (25-of-52), including 45.5-percent from 3-point land (10-of-22) in the win. After allowing the Mountaineers to shoot 62.5-percent (15-of-24) from the field in the first half, Texas held West Virginia to 36.8-percent shooting, including 30.8-percent (4-of-13) from 3-point range, in the second frame.
West Virginia (20-6, 9-4 Big 12) was led by Tarik Phillip, who finished the night with 19 points and a team-high four assists. Devin Williams recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Texas felt the pressure of West Virginia's full-court defense early, turning the ball over three times in the first 3:23 and falling behind 12-4 at the 15:43 mark. The Longhorns fought back and tied the game at 24 following a Demarcus Holland three-pointer with 7:51 remaining.
UT hit its last seven shots from the field to build a 45-36 lead heading into the break. Davis was a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc and led all first-half scorers with 15 points.
A Javan Felix jumper and a pair of free throws from Kendal Yancy extended the Longhorns' lead to 49-36 at the 18:23 mark. Connor Lammert heated up with a pair of 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 58-43 with 15:04 remaining. An alley-oop from Taylor to Prince Ibeh gave the Horns a 65-50 cushion with 8:20 remaining.
A pair of jumpers from Felix and Tevin Mack increased the advantage to 75-59, the largest lead of the game, with 3:42 remaining. The Mountaineers then used a 10-0 run over the next 2:22 to trim the margin to 75-69 at the 1:04 mark.
Texas sealed the victory by converting its final 10 free throw attempts over the final 51 seconds.UT converted 19-of-22 free throws in the second half.
The Longhorns host No. 25/22 Baylor on Saturday, Feb. 20. Tip is set for 1 p.m. Central at the Erwin Center, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
#24/25 Texas 85, #10/11 West Virginia 78
February 16, 2016
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 12,284
Team Notes
UT improved to 3-0 this year at home against AP Top 20 opponents. The Horns have defeated No. 3 North Carolina, No. 17 Iowa State and No. 10 West Virginia in Austin this season.
Texas improved to 3-2 this season against AP Top 10 teams. The 3 victories mark a tie (with Kansas) for the most number of AP Top 10 wins in the nation. UT is 5-3 this year against AP Top 20 opponents.
The Longhorns have won six of the last seven meetings against West Virginia, including a regular-season sweep of the Mountaineers this year. UT is the only team to this point in the year to win at West Virginia.
Texas committed just 7 turnovers (11 assists) against the Mountaineers. WVU entered the game ranked first nationally in forced turnovers (19.1 per game). In two games against the Mountaineers this year, the Longhorns committed a combined 15 turnovers (8 at WVU, 7 tonight).
Texas converted 25-of-30 (.833) free throws, including 19-of-22 (.864) in the second half. WVU went 13-of-21 (.619) from the free throw line.
Reached double figures in scoring (15 points) for the fourth time in Big 12 play and 10th time this year (26 games)
Tied his career high in 3-pointers made (4-4)
Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the 16th time this season and 60th time in his career (125 games)
Recorded 6 blocked shots (one shy of his career high) in just 16 minutes
Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the third time in Big 12 play and fifth time this year (26 games)
Topped the 20-point mark (game-high 23 points) for the sixth time this year and 14th time in his career (85 games)
Reached double figures in scoring for the 20th time this season and 64th time in his career
Tied his career high in free throws made (13-13)
Taylor's 13 free throws without a miss tied a UT single-game record in a Big 12 game for most free throws made without a miss (Sheldon McClellan went 13-13 vs. Oklahoma on Feb. 27, 2013). It also marked a tie for the second-highest number of free throws without a miss in a game in UT history (Sheldon McClellan went 14-14 vs. Fresno State on Nov. 9, 2012).
In two games against WVU this season, Taylor posted a combined 10 assists against just 3 turnovers in 72 minutes played
Postgame Quotes
Texas
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On the team's performance: It's hard to score on West Virginia and taking care of the ball is always an adventure. I thought our guys, after the first three or four minutes, settled in and did a great job attacking their pressure. We came out lacking some aggressiveness, but our guys did a great job flipping their mindset. I thought this was one of the best games I have seen Isaiah [Taylor] play. He steadied us quite a bit, as did Javan [Felix]. They were really big against West Virginia's pressure.
On the "swag" of Prince Ibeh: We love when Prince shows excitement, because it demonstrates how much he cares. He is the most impactful guy on our team in terms of the way he can affect his teammates. He just demonstrates a level of care and concern about them and the game.
On the confidence of Eric Davis Jr.: He's a great, great example of how you work. He came back from Iowa State and he was really down. He had a few subpar games in a row. I said, "You've got to get in the gym. You've got to get better. I'll get in there with you. Any of us will get in there with you, but you have to work on your game. This isn't high school." To his credit, Sunday after practice and yesterday after practice, he got combined about an hour and a half of extra work in on his game. It's amazing--if you want to find energy to do something--the reserves of energy we have if we put our mind in the right place. It really paid off tonight. That big run he went on in the first half was big for our team, because we were not scoring the ball particularly well and he really transformed our approach. I think when he saw that first one go in, that was big for him. I told him that he has to be confident and aggressive no matter what. He's a freshman and he's making a transition. I thought he took a really big step tonight.
On the performance of Conner Lammert: I just like when he shoots, because I feel like it's going in every time. I don't know exactly what his percentage is, but it's good for our offense when he shoots open threes. He's just such a consciousness person and he doesn't want to let anybody down. If he misses a couple of shots, he feels like he needs to make shots for the team. The mentality we've tried to instill in these guys is to just control the things you can control. You can be ready to shoot, you can shoot it the right way, and you can move on to the next play. He's learning. He's fighting a little bit of his own makeup of just being such a consciousness guy.
On the success of having a guard passing the ball in: Well, they still trapped on the first pass in, but what that means is they are leaving the inbounder. So we had Isaiah or Javan taking it out, and that means that the ball is coming back to them if they are going to trap. Those are the guys that we want the basketball in the hands of. At VCU, we pressed, but the hardest thing that we faced was when other teams used their two best ball handlers to attack it. Usually we could find other ways to still turn them over, but if that team had two really good ball handlers and they got everyone else out of the play, that was hard.
On advice to Isaiah Taylor: Just [to be] aggressive. He is so fast that even when you dedicate two guys to him, he can beat those two guys if he can get on the outside of a trap. The challenge is, and somebody said it, 'be quick but don't hurry.' You want them to attack, to be aggressive, to use his speed, but sometimes in the past, he has used it but not been under control to use it or to pass. For the most part tonight, he was under control and made some great plays, some great passes. Then when he got fouled, he made them pay. As a great guard, that is one of the key attributes.
On talking to the freshmen in "freshman orientation:" Those guys are separate. They might as well be from a different universe. All the other guys have the benefit of a different 'training age,' because they have been through this before. Their bodies have physically been through this. Their minds have been through the ups and downs, the road games, the trips, the school, and all that. This is uncharted territory every week. I enjoy doing a freshman orientation with those guys, because it is time that we can spend together and make sure that we are connected around whatever the theme is that we choose. It normally is something to do with progression. We want those guys to focus on getting better.
On Eric Davis Jr.'s first-half explosion: It was huge. It won us the game. There are other factors. Obviously, Isaiah was terrific. I thought that there were a lot of guys that gave us a lift, but that was probably the most important stretch of the game, because they were up as much as eight points early. The way that he spear-headed that run along with the other guys out on the floor, I think that when we see the tape, we will say that was the most critical stretch right there.
Texas Players
Texas Junior Guard Isaiah Taylor
On early turnovers: It was just jitters to start the game, but as we got comfortable with the press, we started making plays. In Morgantown, we did a great job with it. Today I think we did a better job. It's just about staying comfortable and our goal is to take care of the ball.
On Connor Lammert: We tell Connor to stay confident. If he takes 10 or 12 threes in a game, that's what we want him to do. He is the one that changes the game for all of us--especially for me in pick and roll situations where the defender has to stay with me and I kick it back to Connor who is wide open. We just want Connor to stay confident. He did great today, he kept his poise and that's what we need from him.
On play of freshmen: Eric [Davis] does a great job of hitting shots, regardless of how other games went. Tevin Mack--he will shoot from anywhere on the court. I think that's the confidence that he has and that's his role for us. [Kerwin] Roach is one of the most athletic dudes in the countr. He gets out front and gets easy buckets for us. They are all doing a great job for the team.
Texas Freshman Guard Eric Davis, Jr.
On playing with energy: Sometimes you have a rough game, or take a couple of losses and it's hard to bring swagger. That was the biggest thing, is to bring energy. Swagger is just energy—that's all it is.
On his breakout night: Isaiah [Taylor] is a great teammate, he is always saying that they are going to need me down the stretch and that I am the go-to scorer. He is just instilling a lot of confidence in me. Not just him, but the coaching staff really believes in me to hit open shots.
West Virginia
West Virginia Head Coach Bob Huggins
On how Texas performed against defensive pressure: Pressure isn't going to bother a lot of people when two of our guards are out.
On the game plan coming into tonight: I didn't think we could change. I knew it would be difficult without the depth we have had on the perimeter, but we were just going to play the way we play. Sometimes you outsmart yourself and you try to outthink things.
On West Virginia's defense: We got tired. You spend so much energy playing the way we play, and we got tired. We tried to play zone, and it obviously was not the right thing to do. Texas made shots. You have to give them credit. If we made shots like that, we would have been pretty good.
