Sir’Jabari Rice scored 19 points and Marcus Carr added 18 as No. 4 Texas set the pace early and rolled to a 91-54 win over visiting Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Saturday in a unique throwback game at Austin, Texas.
The contest was played in Gregory Gym on the Texas campus, which was the home of Longhorns basketball from the 1930-31 season through the 1976-77 campaign. It’s the second straight year that Texas has played in the edifice as part of coach Chris Beard’s initiative to focus on the tradition and past of the program.
Texas has now won its first five games by an average of 31.4 points.
Tyrese Hunter added 17 points for the Longhorns, with Dillon Mitchell scoring 10 and Dylan Disu adding 10 rebounds. Texas’ reserve players outscored the Rio Grande Valley bench 38-14.
Justin Johnson had 18 points to lead Rio Grande Valley (4-3) while Will Johnston scored 10 for the Vaqueros. They were just 1 of 9 from 3-point range, committed 22 turnovers and had two fast break points.
The Longhorns (5-0) looked right at home with the game’s first 10 points over the opening three minutes and never looked back. Texas led by as many as 24 points in the first half and settled for a 44-22 advantage at the break.
Carr paced the Longhorns with 12 points in the first half as Texas outshot the Vaqueros 47.1 percent to 30.8 percent, had 11 fast break points and forced 14 Rio Grande Valley turnovers that it turned into 19 points.
Only four players scored for the Vaqueros in the half, led by Dima Zdor’s seven points, and they missed all five of their 3-pointers.
Texas set the tone again in second half, reeling off the first seven points and leading 51-22 two minutes into the half. The Vaqueros never got closer than 21 the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
