No. 7/9 Texas Men’s Basketball Cruises Past Saint Francis, 78-46 | Horns Illustrated

(via TexasSports.com)

AUSTIN, Texas – Myles Turner matched a program record, shooting 11-of-12 (.917) with 25 points and 10 boards, his first career double-double, to lead No. 7/9 Texas Men's basketball over Saint Francis, 78-46, on Tuesday night at the Frank Erwin Center.

Turner made his first four field goals and missed a layup with 4:18 remaining in the first half. He didn't miss again, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, in 25 minutes of action.

The record for a minimum of 10 attempts matched Butch Skeete's 11-of-12 shooting from Feb. 6, 1962 when the Horns played at SMU. It was a span of 1,580 games.

Texas (5-0), off to its best start since the 2009 season, recorded a plus-22 rebounding margin (43-21) and shot 57.1 percent from the field, including 61.5 percent in the second half (16-of-26). The defense held Saint Francis (2-3) to a 31.0 shooting percentage.

Junior center Cameron Ridley shot a career-high 7-of-8 (.875) and recorded 16 points and three blocks, while Kendal Yancy matched his career highs with 12 points (eight in the second half) and six rebounds in a career-high 33 minutes. Connor Lammert chipped in 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting.

The Horns shot the lights out inside the paint. The three big men, consisting of Turner, Ridley and Lammert, recorded a combined 52 points on 21-of-24 shooting (.875).

Texas opened the game on a 5-of-6 shooting performance and jumped out to an early 9-2 lead. The Horns did not trail throughout the entire game for the fourth time this season.

Saint Francis cut it to 11-8 before Texas extended it back to 18-8, thanks to Ridley, who made his first four field goals and scored nine of the Longhorns first 18 points.

Texas could not be stopped down low in the opening period, scoring 20 of its 36 first-half points inside the paint.

Texas closed out the final three minutes outscoring the Red Flash, 7-2, to take a 36-23 lead into the half.

Ridley finished the first half with 13 points and three blocks on 6-of-7 shooting, while Turner added 11 points, six boards and shot 5-of-6 from the field.

Coming out of the locker room, the Longhorns continued to build their lead when Yancy drained a three sparking a 10-2 run.

Texas built its largest lead of the night when the Horns went on a 15-0 run to increase its lead to 72-40 with 4:25 remaining. Turner and Yancy each contributed a jumper and a three-pointer in that spurt. The defense held Saint Francis without scoring for a stretch of 5:43.

Malik Harmon led Saint Francis with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

The Longhorns continue nonconference action when they head to Storrs, Connecticut to face the defending NCAA champions in No. 24/22 Connecticut Huskies on Sunday, Nov. 30, with tipoff set for 11 am Central. The game will be broadcasted nationally on ESPN2.

Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
No. 7/9 Texas 78, Saint Francis 46
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 9,356

Team Notes

• Texas limited Saint Francis to 46 points on 31.0% FG shooting (18-of-58), including a 5-of-12 (.238) mark from three-point range. The Horns have held each of their first five opponents to below 32% FG shooting.
• Texas improved to 242-26 in the Rick Barnes era when holding its opponent below 40% FG shooting (5-0 this year).
• UT held Saint Francis to 23 points on 28.1% FG shooting (9-of-32) in the first half.
• The Longhorns posted a +22 rebound margin (43-21), marking the fourth time in the first five games that UT has registered a double-digit rebound advantage.
• The Longhorns never trailed against Saint Francis. It marked the fourth time in five games this season that Texas has led from start-to-finish.
• Four Texas players scored in double digits, the most in a game this season.
• Texas tied a school record for fewest personal fouls in a game with five. It ties the mark set against TCU on Feb. 3, 1948.
• UT posted eight blocks. The Longhorns have registered at least seven rejections in each of the last four games.

Myles Turner

• Posted his first career double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds. The 25 points and 10 rebounds were both career highs.
• Tied the school record for single-game FG percentage (min. 10 attempts) at .917 on 11-of-12 shooting. The mark ties Butch Skeete at SMU on Feb. 6, 1962 (11-of-12). Turner was 3-of-3 from three-point range.

Connor Lammert

• Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the first time this year and ninth time in his career (74 games).

Kendal Yancy

• Tied a career high with 12 points. He was 5-of-10 shooting and 2-of-3 beyond the arc. Also had 12 points against Baylor on March 14, 2014.
• Reached double figures in scoring for the first time this year and fourth time in his career (39 games).

Cameron Ridley

• Season-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting
• Reached double figures in scoring for the first time this year and 23^rd time in his career (73 games)

Jonathan Holmes

• Posted a career-high 5 assists, surpassing his previous best of four at Baylor (1/25/14).

QUOTES

Texas Head Coach Rick Barnes
On junior guard Javan Felix not playing tonight: He actually turned his ankle the last home game here before we went up to New York. He had to deal with it up in New York. We have to get him as healthy as we can. He probably could have played a little bit, but we were hoping he wouldn't have to. The biggest thing is that we want to get him healthy so it doesn't linger.

On Myles Turner's offensive performance and if there is a shot he is uncomfortable taking: No. You know, he's got his repertoire of shots, but what we've told him is that he has to get one that is "the shot." I thought he settled down and got better defensively as the game went on tonight, especially with ball screens. It's hard for big guys to step way out there and help on those screens. As the game went on, he did, he got better at improving his angles. [Early in the game] he was giving almost a direct line [to the] basket. I do think he did [get better]. I told him that there are more rebounds I think he can come up with.

The more he understands what we're doing and he doesn't have to think about where he's supposed to be, and just get in the flow, the more he will allow his instincts [to take over]. I thought tonight he did calm down. Again, as the season goes on you would expect him to play at a pace where he's not in a hurry, and that goes back to him always trying to do the right thing. [He is] Always trying to overthink it probably.

On what shot he would like to see Turner make "his shot": I love the turnaround jump shot. Whether it is over either shoulder, or whether he turns and faces. He gets it up so quick and so high, and he's got great touch.

On if the first half performance was not up to par: We have really high expectations, and we need to develop depth. I thought Kendal … was pretty good. He took a couple shots that were still not great shots, but he is a guy we think can score. We told Demarcus Croaker and we told Jordan [Barnett] [they need to step up]. We thought the last few days of practice were really important, we need those guys. We didn't think what would happen would happen. With Isaiah [Taylor] going down and Javan [Felix] having to deal with an ankle. Those type of things can happen. We expect those guys can carry it.

I thought Demarcus Holland was unbelievable tonight. Talk about a guy that ran the show and got the ball where he needed to get it. He got us flowing with it. And, defensively he didn't back off at all. What we want, is those other guys to play with the same type of effort. [Holland] is always defending the other guys' best player or whoever we think he needs to be on to help us defensively. We are lucky to have that. I want to see those other guys match that type of intensity. Demarcus Croaker came out in the second half that happened and they did a better job. I can sit here and say maybe they were a little antsy and nervous to start with. But, at halftime I told them to play like there's no tomorrow … and I thought Demarcus Croaker did that [in the second half].

Forward Myles Turner
On tying school record for shooting percentage (.917): To be honest, I didn't see anything coming. I just wanted to execute the offense and get my shots.

On personally bouncing back after the games in New York: A little bit yeah, just because I was able to perform better for the team. More than anything I was frustrated with my effort. I think today was a great bounce back game for me.

On if this was a dominant individual performance: I think you could say that. It felt great to gain some confidence going into tougher competition. Saint Francis was a great opponent and they were there the entire game, but to play well against a solid opponent that was great.

On Kendal Yancy starting at point guard: He definitely stepped up. That's one thing we've been emphasizing all week with Isaiah [Taylor] out – next man up. Javan [Felix] definitely stepped up in New York and Kendal stepped up tonight as well. He got out of his comfort zone. We all have things we need to work on and need to execute a little better, but I was proud of him.

Center Cameron Ridley
On team's performance: In practice, coach emphasizes getting the ball on the inside and playing inside out. I wanted to use this game to work on things we do in practice as far as getting inside position and getting close to the basket where I can get easy buckets. The guards shot the ball like they do in practice and it worked out.

On the playing well early: If I get started early, it'll suck in the defense and create open looks for the guards. When they started to double down, we can get some opportunities to get open shots.

Saint Francis Head Coach Rob Krimmel
Opening statement: Coming into the game we knew it was going to be a battle. That's a good Texas team. We challenged our guys to bring the energy, especially to start. Bring it every possession. I would have to say we competed for 40 minutes, every guy that had an opportunity to play [competed]. Give a lot of credit to Texas, because that's a very good basketball team. They've got some size, they've got some skilled kids. They can make shots.

We knew coming in we were going to have to take care of the basketball, limit our mistakes and make some shots. In the first half I was very pleased with the shots that we got, and the right people were taking those shots. We just didn't hit some of them. Same thing in the second half, I thought we got some good looks and if we could've knocked a couple of those down especially early [that would have helped.] To start the [second] half they went on a bit of a run, but our guys bounced back and had a chance to chip away at it. Again, give Texas credit, that's a very good basketball team. They willed their style, especially in the second half. I'm proud of the way our guys battled tonight.

On Texas not having sophomore point guard Isaiah Taylor for tonight's game: Coming into it we knew they had some experience without him; they had some guys with experience under their belt. We knew it was going to be a big challenge for our guards regardless of who they put out there. We were hoping to disrupt them a little bit, especially on the perimeter. One of the best ways to defend the post is great guard pressure, and try to take the guards out of it a little bit, but their post guys did a great job establishing position. There were a couple times we were a little late on our weak side help, but I thought their guards did a great job getting their post players the ball in a position to score.

On freshman forward Myles Turner: He's good. He's fantastic. It's one of those things, coming into the game you say, "Okay, let's make him make some shots." He is obviously bigger than anything we have on our bench and in our lineup, and he did a great job in the block. So, you say, "Make him make some shots," and he certainly did that tonight. He was 3-for-3 from the three-point line and made a couple mid-range shots. He's a talented kid. You look at the stats, and he got 25 [points] and 10 [rebounds] in 25 minutes; that's a pretty efficient night.