The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
5-2
Florida A&M
1-8
Men's Basketball tops Florida A&M, 82-58
11.29.2017 | Men's Basketball
Junior Dylan Osetkowski led the Longhorns with 19 points and eight rebounds.
AUSTIN, Texas – Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski matched his season high of 19 points as Texas Men's Basketball (5-2) defeated Florida A&M (1-8), 82-58, at the Frank Erwin Center on Wednesday night. Osetkowski went 8-11 from the field and added eight rebounds (six offensive) and one steal in just 21 minutes of action.
Sophomore guard Andrew Jones contributed 14 points on 6-8 shooting, and junior guard Kerwin Roach II recorded 11 points and three assists. Freshman forward Mohamed Bamba recorded 10 points and added eight boards and four blocks.
Texas shot a season-high 57.6 percent from the field on 34-59 shooting and outscored FAMU, 56-24 in the paint. UT converted 17 Rattler turnovers into 20 points and held an 18-3 edge on fast-break points.
The Longhorns opened an 18-11 lead with 12:44 remaining in the first half after Osetkowski connected from close-range. A Bamba jumper gave Texas its first double-digit lead (25-15) with 9:32 to play in the first half.
UT led by as many as 14 at the 2:12 mark and held Florida A&M to just two field goals in the final five minutes. Texas headed into the break with a 35-26 lead.
Osetkowski paced the Longhorns with seven points and eight rebounds in the first half, while Bamba chipped in seven points and six boards. The Texas defense forced 10 turnovers in the opening period.
With 10:50 remaining in the second half, Osetkowski recorded six straight points for UT as the lead grew to 58-43. The Longhorns utilized a 13-1 run over a four-minute stretch late in the second half to extend the advantage to 26 points (80-54) with two minutes remaining.
Senior walk-on Ryan McClurg finished the scoring for the Longhorns with a minute to play to give Texas an 82-58 victory.
The Longhorns converted 75 percent from the field in the second half on 21-28 shooting, including 50 percent (3-6) from the three-point line. This marked the fifth-highest single-half field goal percentage for the Longhorns since the 1965-66 season and highest since Jan. 15, 2000.
Desmond Williams led the Rattlers with 21 points.
The Longhorns return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 5, when they head to Richmond, Virginia to face VCU. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT, and the contest will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 82, Florida A&M 58
40th Anniversary of First College Basketball Game at the Frank Erwin Center
November 29, 2017
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 8,511
Team Notes
- Tonight's contest marked the first matchup between Texas and Florida A&M.
- Tonight's game marked the 40th anniversary of the first men's basketball game played at the Frank Erwin Center. Texas defeated Oklahoma on Nov. 29, 1977.
- UT improved to 491-119 all-time in games at the Erwin Center. Texas improved to 219-36 at the Erwin Center in the last 16 seasons (dating to the start of the 2002-03 season). UT is 28-10 at home during the Shaka Smart era (4-0 this season).
- Texas set a season high in FG percentage (57.6, 34-59). UT's previous high was 50.9 vs. Lipscomb (Nov. 18).
- UT converted 75.0% (21-28) from the floor in the second half. This marked the fifth-highest single-half field goal percentage by the Longhorns since the 1965-66 season and highest since Jan. 15, 2000 (.762 in 2nd half, 16-21, vs. Oklahoma).
- Texas recorded a 56-24 advantage in points in the paint and an 18-3 margin in fast-break points.
- Ten (10) Longhorns logged at least 11 minutes of playing time.
Mohamed Bamba
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the third time this year (6 games).
- Recorded 4 blocks (one shy of his season high)
- Has registered at least 2 blocks in each of his first six contests to start his collegiate career (has 24 total in his first 6 games)
Andrew Jones
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the sixth time this season (7 games) and 28th time in his career (40 games)
Dylan Osetkowski
- Reached double figures in scoring (19 points) for the sixth time this season (7 games)
- 6 of his 8 rebounds came on the offensive glass
Kerwin Roach II
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the sixth time this season (7 games) and 31st time in his career (72 games)
Jericho Sims
- Set a career high in rebounds (6) in just 15 minutes of action
Postgame Quotes
TEXAS
Head Coach Shaka Smart
On the team fixing mistakes during Florida A&M game: It's not an all or nothing thing. I was hard on them in the locker room after, but I will say in their defense, we had a very emotional, taxing trip. They've not had an off day since we came back. They went straight into Monday's preparation. They'll be off tomorrow. I thought you could tell we were a little bit mentally fatigued. And then the other thing is just human nature. You go from playing some of the teams that we played to playing a game like tonight, which I think in our guys' minds, they probably felt like we were going to win coming in. We did not build up the opponent and say, "Hey this is the best team in the world that you've ever played." We wanted to see how our guys responded. I don't think it's an all or nothing thing. I think there were some good things tonight, but I do think as I mentioned, we do need to gain a level of competitive maturity in order to win bigger games.
On if he's surprised at where the team is: It doesn't surprise me. You always, as a coach, you'd love for your team to figure it out just like that. I think that the games in Portland will pay dividends for us down the road, but we have to apply those lessons.
On shooting twice as many three-pointers in second half: We talked about getting the ball inside, getting the ball in the paint. We weren't shooting the ball well from outside in the first half. In the second half, we shot well and we just didn't shoot as many. But they went zone a lot. We talked about making sure we got the ball in the paint. The guys did a good job of that. We shot 75 percent in the second half, so we'll take that any day of the week.
On the performance of players off the bench: I thought Jacob [Young], I thought he was the one guy on our team, out of everybody, that had a competitive spirit about him at the level that we want to be tonight. Again, I'm being hard on our guys. I told them in the locker room, I said, "Where do you want the standard to be?" The only way to get results and get the success you want to have, we have to have a very high standard. I thought Jacob was good. Everybody else coming off the bench, they gave us some different things, but they need to be better.
Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski
On Smart's view of Texas' halftime lead: He wasn't upset with the fact that we didn't have a big lead. He was more trying to talk to us about playing to our standard. If we're going to compete against teams like Duke, Gonzaga, top teams, then we've got to have our standard at a lot higher level. I think Florida A&M played very well and knocked some shots down, but it's about us and it's not about the other team. Just for ourselves, we've got to be at a lot better level of everything coming into the next game and for all future games.
On playing at the same level as the Texas team played at in Portland: In Portland we didn't even play perfectly. Watching film with coaches, by ourselves, we see a lot of things that we can do better individually and as a team. It's early on in the season. Not that that's an excuse, but we've got a long way to go to get to where we want to be. We've just got to be at a higher level when we come back to practice.
On leadership to spark the team: I think that it's on everybody, both individually and as a team, to be at a level of enthusiasm and energy going into a game like this. Coming off a long road trip in Portland and a tough practice yesterday, whether guys were run down, bodies are hurting, mind isn't right, we've just got to come out a lot stronger. So I think that it's a collective effort of guys trying to talk through it and get their enthusiasm up. So it's not just on me, it's on everybody.
Sophomore guard Andrew Jones
On shooting fewer three-point shots in the second half: We just wanted to take good looks. We were dominating on the inside and we weren't going to force up any jumpers that weren't clean looks. So we had a big advantage on the inside and we go on the mismatches. Dylan was unstoppable all night, so we just kept feeding him and he did a good job.
On defensive strategy: It's just personnel. When we're effective in press early and continue to turn the ball over and keep getting stops, then we're going to stay with it. But if we're getting a little sluggish, then we're just going to have to adjust. It's just like any other game, as the game is full of runs. So we go into the press when it feels needed.
On the development of the Texas offense: We continue to space the floor, learn to play to our stronger suits like in transition. Our offensive flow, that will come and we've just got to continue to get better. That's the only thing that we can say, just continue to get better. It's still early, but that's not an excuse. We've got to continue getting better and work to accomplish a lot.
Florida A&M
Head Coach Robert McCullum
On if they gave Texas a scare: I wouldn't say that. We were physically overwhelmed. They're a talented team. They have size. They're a versatile team. They have the ability to impact the game with their full-court defense and their length and size. They can certainly impact the game in the half-court as well. They're a young team. As they gain experience, they'll be a team to be reckoned with come conference play. We can look no further than the games against Duke and Gonzaga in Portland last week. When you can play with those teams the way they did that bodes well for what lies ahead.
On if he expected Texas to start the game pressing defensively: Absolutely. And I expected our team to handle it better than they did. There was nothing they did that we did not expect. We ran one play against the press and thought we were going to get a dunk, but we ended up throwing the ball too deep. But that didn't surprise us. That's what Shaka Smart's teams have done since he was at VCU.
On Osetkowski's game: He's a versatile player. We don't have the size or experience to match up with him. Our focus is on this year, as it should be, but going forward we'll have a team far more capable of matching up with a team like this. We'll be returning our 7-footer, who we didn't get until a week before classes started. We also have two 6-9 guys sitting out and I wish I could have had those guys here today.
