By Steve Lansdale
Senior writer / editor
FORT WORTH, Texas — Junior guard Jase Febres scored a season-high 17 points and redshirt sophomore guard Andrew Jones added 12 to lead the Texas men’s basketball team to a 60-50 win over Texas A&M at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
The victory improved UT’s record to 8-1, the program’s best nine-game start in Shaka Smart’s five seasons as head coach, while the Aggies watched their record slump to 3-5.
Febrese and the Longhorns did [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]much of their damage from long range. Febrese connected on four three-pointers. Jones and fellow guard Matt Coleman also hit twice from beyond the arc; as a team, the Longhorns shot 9-of-29, while the Aggies found their target on just three of 11.
The UT defense was stingy, limiting A&M to just 17 first-half points and forcing A&M into costly mistakes. The Aggies had 21 turnovers against just 14 assists — the 21 forced turnovers were the most the Horns had forced this year since getting the same number Nov. 15 against Prairie View A&M. By comparison, the Longhorns enjoyed a 19-14 assists-to-turnovers ratio. Their 19 assists were the most this season, surpassing the 18 handed out Nov. 9 in a 70-66 win at Purdue.
Texas lost the battle of the boards, as the Aggies pulled down 30 rebounds, compared to 24 for the Longhorns. UT’s 19 assists were the most in any game this season.
Guard Courtney Ramey set a season high with 7 assists.
The Longhorns now return home, and will host Central Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in a game that can be seen on the Longhorn Network.
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