The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
7-3
Louisiana Tech
7-4
Men's Basketball defeats Louisiana Tech, 75-60
12.16.2017 | Men's Basketball
Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski recorded a season-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
AUSTIN, Texas – Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski recorded a season-high 22 points as Texas Men's Basketball downed the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, 75-60, Saturday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center. Osetkowski scored his 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds.
Freshman forward Mohamed Bamba contributed 14 points, a team-high nine rebounds and matched a career high with five blocks in just 18 minutes. Freshman forward Jericho Sims registered season highs in both points (9) and rebounds (8) in 20 minutes, while sophomore guard Jacob Young reached double figures in scoring with 11 points.
Texas shot 24-of-49 (49%) from the field, with a 42.9 percent clip (6-of-14) from three-point range. UT forced the Bulldogs into 15 turnovers and 33.9 percent shooting, including 6-of-25 (24%) from beyond-the-arc.
The Longhorns recorded the first seven points of the contest after a layup from Young, forcing a Bulldog timeout at the 16:53 mark. A pair of 3-pointers on consecutive possessions from freshman Jase Febres and Osetkowski extended the UT lead to 18-5 with 10:58 remaining in the first half.
Sophomore center James Banks III connected on a pair of free throws at the 2:34 mark to give UT its largest lead of the half at 17 points (34-17). A jumper from Sims with 42 seconds concluded the scoring, as Texas headed to the break with a 12-point (38-26) lead. Osetkowski paced Texas in the first half with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Sims added five points and four rebounds in 10 minutes.
The Texas defense held Louisiana Tech to just 8-of-27 (29.6%) shooting in the opening 20 minutes and turned the Bulldogs over 12 times. UT was 13-of-28 from the field and outscored Louisiana Tech by a 16-8 margin in the paint.
The Bulldogs used a 19-8 run over a five-minute stretch to pull within 54-50 at the 9:25 mark. Six points from Bamba fueled a 10-2 Texas spurt to extend the Longhorn lead back to double digits (64-52) with 5:08 remaining.
Louisiana Tech cut the lead to single digits (69-60) with under two minutes remaining, but Texas scored the final six points to cap a 75-60 win. Daquan Bracey led Louisiana Tech with 24 points.
The Longhorns return to the Frank Erwin Center to host Tennessee State on Monday, Dec 18. Tip is set for 8 p.m. Central, and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 75, Louisiana Tech 60
December 16, 2017
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 8,828
Team Notes
- Texas improved to 4-0 in the all-time series against Louisiana Tech. This marked the first contest between the two schools since Nov. 10, 2010.
- UT improved to 492-120 all-time in games at the Erwin Center. Texas improved to 220-37 at the Erwin Center in the last 16 seasons (dating to the start of the 2002-03 season). UT is 29-11 at home during the Shaka Smart era (5-1 this season).
- UT held the Bulldogs to 33.9% (21-62) FG shooting, including 24.0% (6-25) from three-point range, and allowed just 6 assists against 15 turnovers during the contest.
- Texas converted 52.4% (11-21) from the field in the second half.
- The Longhorns held Louisiana Tech to 26 points on 29.6% FG shooting (8-27), including 26.7% (4-15) from three-point range, in the first half. The Bulldogs had 3 assists against 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Mohamed Bamba
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the sixth time this year (9 games)
- Also tied his season high in blocked shots (5) in just 18 minutes of action
- Has registered at least 2 blocks in each of his first nine contests to start his collegiate career (has 37 total in his first 9 games)
Dylan Osetkowski
- Set a season high in scoring with 22 points, one shy of his career high (23) during his time at Tulane
- Tied his season high in three-point field goals made (3-5)
- Topped the 20-point mark for the first time this year (10 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring for the ninth time this season
Jericho Sims
- Set season highs in points (9) and rebounds (8) and tied his season high in free throws made (3-5)
Jacob Young
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the third time this year (10 games) and sixth time in his career (43 games)
- Set season highs in assists (2) and minutes (27)
Postgame Quotes
TEXAS
Head Coach Shaka Smart
On Bamba's performance with four fouls: I think he played with an aggressiveness and looseness. When he and a lot of our guys go into the game at the start of the game, they feel a level of "I don't want to make a mistake" or "I don't want to mess up." We try to keep them loose, but coming off the Michigan game, we knew that we were far from what we wanted to be. We want to be better, but you can't play not to mess up. I think at the end, [Bamba] just went in and said I'm going to attack and whatever happens happens. There were a couple of plays where they could have called fouls on him and they didn't.
On Young's performance and Eric Davis Jr.'s status: Eric hurt his right wrist, his shooting wrist. He wasn't able to practice fully. He did some things during shoot-around today, but he was far from being 100 percent. He probably could have played, but I don't know how effective he would have been shooting the ball and you certainly don't want to play 4-on-5 at any point. That's why he didn't play and Andrew [Jones] is still recovering. That took us down to four perimeter guys. I thought Jacob did a nice job. I thought there were a couple of plays where he got a little frantic and forced some stuff, but other than that I thought he had a good showing for us. Jase [Febres] helped us and then we went with three bigs, with Dylan [Osetkowski] playing a little bit of the small forward position during the first half. [Osetkowski] is so smart he can play wherever you want him to play.
On where this team would be without Osetkowski: It would be completely different, but I don't want to put those negative things in the universe. He's probably our most important player from the standpoint of all of the things that he does. He's like a connective tissue for us. He brings a lot of things together. I think that the combination of having a high basketball IQ and being in his fourth year as a college basketball player, he's further ahead than pretty much everyone else on our team.
Freshman forward Mohamed Bamba
On first half vs. second half performance: I looked at the score and realized that it was easily a two-possession game, so I realized that I need to kick it up and attack aggressively while playing smart at the same time. Mostly, it was my teammates and knowing that they relied on me that helped me step my game up. I knew that they needed to see the Mo that they see every day at practice.
On playing very well at the end of the game, versus the start of the game: I think that starting off and trying to take over is something that I definitely need to work and improve on. Staying aggressive is one of the things that I have to build on.
On Smart's hopes to play Bamba, Sims and Osetkowski all together: I think that if we were to all play at the same time, it would present a lot of problems for the opposition. The offensive versatility between Jericho and Dylan is very strong. They can pick and pop and have killer jump shots. I'm also working on my jump shot, but inside not a lot of teams can play with us. A lot of Big 12 teams play a lot of 1-2-3-3 and 5 but not a lot teams can hang with Dylan down low. At the same time if we go small, not a lot of teams can play with Dylan when he pulls it out.
Freshman forward Jericho Sims
On overall performance: I am not completely satisfied. However, we have more games which means more opportunity to improve. This is just the start. I will get more comfortable and adjust to the college-level game.
On coming to Texas from Minnesota: I like Texas. Playing for Shaka and with these guys is what I came here to do. I am ready to face any challenge.
On improving: I know that my improvement isn't just going to come tomorrow. I have to work hard every day in practice and apply it to my game.
Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski
On Smart's motivating comments towards Dylan: Coach Smart builds up everybody every single day, down to managers, coaches, players, GAs. He makes everybody feel like a part of the program. I don't feel any more special than I already do. I just know that I have the best coach in America on my side, building me up every single day.
On turnovers: Seven of the 14 turnovers today were on me. We have to continue to stay aggressive, whether it's missed shots or turnovers, we can't dwell on that. If we stay aggressive, both our guards and bigs, that is going to help us tremendously.
On improvement since transferring: I wouldn't be the player that I am if it weren't for sitting out for an entire year. Working day-to-day with Coach Smart on the mental aspect, physical aspect and the constant support has really improved my play. My game has gone through the roof, as has my mental toughness, during this past year.
LOUISIANA TECH
Head Coach Eric Konkol
Opening Statement: We didn't get off to a good start. When you turn the ball over a lot earlier in the game, you really need to get a good rhythm from the perimeter. I'm proud of our guys for battling, especially in the interior, and hanging in there. We got the game to four points in the second half, but just couldn't make enough plays to really make it a game and take control. I'll give a lot of credit to Shaka (Smart), to Texas, and their game plan, but I am proud of our guys and the fight that they had today. It'll be something that we'll be able to draw back on as we continue the season and get better and better.
On cleaning it up in the second half: No question about it. You look at the stat sheet and immediately you see that we didn't take care of the basketball. When another team gets more opportunities to shoot and more possessions, that's going to hurt you. There's no question that in the games that we've lost, it's really been turnover related and that's something we have to get better at.
On their defensive game plan: Well it was a part of how we always want to play. We want to use more of your pressure in the full court and once we get into half court, we really want to protect the paint. We want to guard the gaps. We want to keep the guards out on the perimeter. Not exactly force them to take threes, but we really want to limit that dibble penetration. We knew that (Dylan) Osetkowski was going to be a match up with his size and versatility. He was a game changer and we had a hard time guarding that.
