The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
8-3
Tennessee State
5-5
Men's Basketball records 47-46 win over Tennessee State
12.18.2017 | Men's Basketball
Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski recorded a team-high 16 points, while freshman guard Matt Coleman hit the game-winning shot with 9 seconds remaining.
AUSTIN, Texas – – Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski recorded a team-high 16 points, and freshman point guard Matt Coleman hit the game-winning basket with 9 seconds remaining to lift Texas Men's Basketball (8-3) past Tennessee State (5-5), 47-46, on Monday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
Osetkowski converted 7-of-13 field goals and had a team-high seven boards in 38 minutes of action. Junior guard Kerwin Roach II joined Osetkowski added 12 points and a season-high four steals in 37 minutes.
Coleman recorded seven assists and four points in 37 minutes, while freshman forward Mohamed Bamba registered four blocks and seven rebounds in 32 minutes. The Longhorn defense held Tennessee State to just 17-of-43 (39.5%) from the field and forced a season-high 25 turnovers, converting them into 26 points.
The Tigers used a 10-0 run in the first period to open an early 14-7 lead with under nine minutes remaining. Texas outscored TSU 10-2 over the final 2:21 of the half, highlighted by back-to-back threes from Roach to give UT a 25-21 lead heading into the break.
Roach led the Longhorns with 10 points and three steals in the first half, while Osetkowski added eight points and six boards. UT turned Tennessee State over 16 times in the first half and held a 17-5 advantage in the points-off-turnovers battle.
The Tigers rattled off eight straight points early in the second half to regain a two-point (29-27) advantage with 15:40 to play. Bamba converted a traditional three-point at the 8:12 mark to put the Longhorns on top 39-38.
Back-to-back buckets by Osetkowski fueled a 6-0 spurt to give Texas its largest lead of the game at seven points (45-38) with 3:58 remaining. Tennessee State answered with an 8-0 run to pull ahead 46-45 with 1:17 to play.
A Bamba block gave Texas the ball and the Longhorns called a timeout with 21 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Coleman connected on a floater in the lane with nine seconds remaining. Tennessee State missed a long-distance 3-pointer and Texas held on for a 47-46 victory.
Christian Mekowulu led Tennessee State with 15 points.
The Longhorns next travel to Birmingham, Ala. to face Alabama in the Vulcan Classic on Friday, Dec. 22. Tip is set for 8 p.m. Central at Legacy Arena, and the contest will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 47, Tennessee State 46
December 18, 2017
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 8,218
Team Notes
- Texas improved to 2-0 in the all-time series against Tennessee State. The only previous matchup between the two schools prior to tonight came in an 84-72 UT victory in Austin on Nov. 30, 1987.
- UT improved to 493-120 all-time in games at the Erwin Center. Texas improved to 221-37 at the Erwin Center in the last 16 seasons (dating to the start of the 2002-03 season). UT is 30-11 at home during the Shaka Smart era (6-1 this season).
- The Longhorns limited Tennessee State to 46 points on 39.5% FG shooting (17-43). TSU had 6 assists against 25 turnovers on the night. The 25 forced turnovers were a team season high by Texas.
- UT held Tennessee State to 21 points and just 2 assists against 16 turnovers in the first half.
Mohamed Bamba
- Recorded 4 blocks (one shy of his season high) in 32 minutes
- Has registered at least 2 blocks in each of his first 10 contests to start his collegiate career (has 41 total in his first 10 games)
Dylan Osetkowski
- Reached double figures in scoring (team-high 16 points) for the 10th time this season (11 games)
Kerwin Roach II
- Reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the seventh time this year (11 games) and 33rd time in his career (76 games)
- Set a season high in steals (4) in 37 minutes
Jericho Sims
- Tied his season high in minutes (21)
Jacob Young
- Recorded a career high in rebounds (5)
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS
Head Coach Shaka Smart
On tonight's game: Fortunately, we held them to 46 points. A few things on offense: One, when we have an open shot, we have to slow down. We are almost shooting it like a hot potato. Our guys practice shooting a lot of extra shots, but tonight the way we shot the ball was completely different from how we practice. You have to step up with poise. We have to trust the process. That's really a big word for us. We have to make sure to focus on the process before we focus on results. Obviously, we won. I'm glad we won, but we have to get back to that. The other thing on offense is that we have to do what we talk about doing as a team. If we come out of a timeout and say we're going to do something, then we have to go do it. I think one time that we came out of it we didn't even get a shot out of it because we didn't execute. They played a different zone and it's tough to play against. Some of our guys they didn't even guard, but it can't be an excuse.
On finding a balance between the inside and outside game: It's tough. You want to play 5-on-5. You don't want to play 3-on-5 or 4-on-5 when they're not guarding someone. But at the same time, when we watch the tape, we'll see some of our bigs open on seals where we needed to throw the ball in there. So when the game was going the way it was in the first half, there has to be an added emphasis on throwing it inside. We had some good passes into the interior, but then we had some that we flat-out threw away. Which again is a lack of poise.
Freshman guard Matt Coleman
On making the winning shot: It felt good. At the end of the game you just want to win. It felt good pulling out a win no matter how the game went offensively, defensively, individually, or as a team.
On whether they are making basketball tough on themselves: Defensively we are playing at a high level right now and we are getting opportunities on offense. We just have to execute, that is the biggest thing. Nobody to point the fingers at. Collectively, we need stay patient and poised in offense and that will work for us. Defense leads to offense and we are defending at a high level. To keep a team at 46 points is very good, but obviously we only scored 47.
On the way opponents play defense: It makes it quite difficult, that's where the defensive end gets involved. Get a stop and get out in transition to making easy offense. Eventually shots will fall and open things up.
Junior guard Kerwin Roach II
On being the most experienced on court and calming things down: I just told everybody to keep their heads up and to keep playing. It is a 40-minute game and you cannot let one play distract you from the next play, so you just have to keep your head up and keep playing.
On what needs to change within the offense: I just have to say there is nothing wrong with our offense. You just have to stand there with confidence and shoot the ball. I looked up at the end of the game and we were 3-for-21 on threes, but we had a lot of good looks. We just have to step in and knock them down. When we practice, everyone gets extra shots all throughout the week and heading into a game, so we just have to knock them down, step in with confidence, shoot it and just be loose.
TENNESSEE STATE
Head Coach Dana Ford
Opening statement: I thought our guys competed really hard tonight. You know we came up on the short end of the stick, but not a whole lot to complain about. We fought on the glass. I think we outrebounded them, which is something that we try to do. We turned the ball over, but I think a lot of people will turn it over against that type of pressure. Some of our guys that hadn't played a lot came up and made some big plays and earned some more playing time. So I'm just really proud of our players and what they were able to come in here and do, this being the third game of a six-game road trip.
On how Tennessee State reacted after Texas took the lead with nine seconds remaining: What we preach is if someone makes a big shot against us, get it out and go as fast as you can. That's just something that I learned studying coaches, especially against the defense that they imposed on us today. If we let the defense set up, we probably don't even get a shot at the rim. I thought, maybe we could have put a little bit more pressure on the defense, but that was our best shooter. He made a couple and he took it and obviously it was a tough shot, but hopefully they were thinking get it out and get it to (Delano Spencer), because that's what we practice, and go.
Tennessee State redshirt junior forward Christian Mekowulu
On his matchup with Bamba: I just kept going at him, I knew he was going to block a couple of my shots, but I decided to keep going at him.
On his game performance: I was just playing, just competing out there. I was just focused and trying to get a win. Eventually we came up short.
