It was a successful opening night for Rick Barnes’ youthful squad, as the Longhorns breezed by Boston 82-42 at the Erwin Center. After losing three players to the NBA draft and over 80% of their scoring, Texas turns to J’Covan Brown and a half dozen true freshman to sustain their 20-win streak.
Brown came through in the opener, matching his career high of 28 points and dishing out eight assists. Brown was efficient, hitting 10-19 and 5-6 from the line and adding four boards. After he scored over half of Texas’ points in the first half, the freshmen got going in the second, led by Julian Lewis’ 18. Lewis was 4-7 from three.
Aside from Brown’s 31 minutes and Alexis Wangmene’s 27, the nine-man rotation all played between 19 and 22 minutes. Myck Kabongo scored six in his college debut, but he also added seven assists and three rebounds.
Texas shot 46% from the field, but they did the majority of their damage on defense. Boston shot just under 30% for the game (4-25 from three) and turned the ball over 24 times.
Texas will host Rhode Island Tuesday afternoon in a 3:00 Legends Classic Matinee. The Rams fell to George Mason in their opener but got 38 points from senior guard Jamal Wilson.