Horns’ 72-58 win against Vanderbilt was a tale of two halves

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas men’s basketball team’s easier-than-it-sounds 72-58 victory Saturday over Vanderbilt at the Erwin Center in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at the Erwin Center was a tale of two halves. The Longhorns dominated each, albeit in different ways.

Texas got a team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds from high-flying freshman guard Kerwin Roach, Jr., and had four players in double-figure scoring while winning for the fifth time in six games.

In a game that started at [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]11 a.m., it was the Longhorns who brought the energy early on while the Commodores looked like they would have preferred to sleep in.

“It was important for us to have a lot of early excitement of energy and we challenged the team to be ready at the start, and the guys responded well,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “It was different to play a non-conference game and kind of nice to have a break from the league. We just wanted to win the game and move forward and get better.”

The Longhorns led by as much as 17 points in the first half, but had to repel a Vanderbilt rally in the second half that brought the Commodores to within 58-51 with 5:45 to play. Ultimately, the Longhorns’ balance, inside-out attack and swarming defense was just too much for Vanderbilt.

“We wanted to attack the basket and work hard on defense, and we did a good job in both of those goals,” Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor said. “We are getting better on the press — it speeds up the opposition and takes them out of their comfort zone. Vanderbilt hit some tough shots in the second half, but we found a way to fight them off and get the win.”

The Longhorns (14-7) also got 13 points and 11 rebounds from center Prince Ibeh while guard Eric Davis Jr. added 13 points and Taylor hit for 11 points.

Center Damian Jones led Vanderbilt (12-8) with a career-high 26 points, while guard Matthew Fisher-Davis hit for 19 points, all but two of which came in the second half. Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, guard Wade Baldwin, IV, left the game without a point or assist getting injured after just 10 minutes.

In the first half, the Longhorns’ defense was the key, limiting Vanderbilt to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor, including 0-for-6 showing from three-point range.

“We got outplayed significantly in the first half and that made it too difficult for us to come back,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “Texas played well on both ends and it was very disruptive on the defensive end.

The Commodores got hot in the second half, but the Longhorns continually drove the ball into the paint and went to the free throw line 20 times, making 17 of those attempts from the charity stripe.

“The difference was Texas’ ability to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line,” Stallings added. “They are very quick on the perimeter and get downhill into the paint so fast. Live ball turnovers killed us. You can’t defend if the opposition is going one-on-none.”

Texas led, 31-16, at the half as Jones had 11 of the Commodores’ points in the first 20 minutes and only one other Vanderbilt player — guard Matthew Fisher-Davis — scored from the floor.

The Longhorns were stingy with the ball, committing just one turnover in the first half and six for the game while outrebounding Vanderbilt, 37-29.

“We wanted to come in prepared and with a lot of energy, and we did,” Taylor said. “This was a fun game for us. We pride ourselves (in) being one of the best conferences in the country and I think we represented the Big 12 well today.”

Texas returns to the floor and to Big 12 play Monday when it travels north to Waco to battle No. 17 Baylor. Seven of the Longhorns’ final 10 regular-season games are against teams currently ranked in the nation’s top 17.

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