Courtney Ramey scored 14 points to lead six teammates in double-figure scoring as No. 5 Texas opened a highly anticipated season with a 92-48 victory over visiting Houston Baptist on Tuesday in Austin, Tex.
Texas led by 16 points at halftime and by 29 just 4 ½ minutes into the second half before waltzing to the finish line. The Longhorns shot 64 percent from the floor and 13 of 23 from beyond the arc in the comfortable win.
The Longhorns sent plenty of new faces to the court, as new coach Chris Beard raided the transfer portal for players from Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Utah, UMass, Vanderbilt and Creighton to join four high-profile holdovers from the Shaka Smart regime.
Andrew Jones and freshman Jaylon Tyson added 11 points each for Texas while Tre Mitchell, Marcus Carr and Christian Bishop had 10 each for the Longhorns.
Za-Ontay Boothman led the Huskies with 12 points, with Darius Lee scoring 11 and Deshon Proctor hitting for 10 for Houston Baptist.
After a few butterflies early on, Texas found its stride, turning an 18-15 lead at the 10:48 mark into a 15-point advantage via two 3-pointers from Ramey, another deep basket from Jones – two of the returnees – and a layup by Timmy Allen. The Longhorns led by as many as 16 points on three occasions in the half and went to the break ahead 43-27.
Carr had 10 points to lead all scorers in the half as Texas outshot the Huskies 65.2 percent to 37.5 percent over the first 20 minutes. Lee paced Houston Baptist with eight points as the Huskies stayed close thanks to eight Texas turnovers in the half.
The Longhorns began the second half with a 15-2 run keyed by five points each by Jones and Mitchell and another 3-pointer by Ramey.
Things will get much tougher for the Longhorns very quickly. Texas travels to No. 1 Gonzaga for the ultimate early-season test on Saturday.
–Field Level Media