By Kenneth Cross
Texas guard Tyrese Hunter scored a career-high 26 points and the Longhorns shot 51.5 percent to take down Gonzaga, 93-74, at the Moody Center in Austin, TX, on Wednesday evening.
Hunter stayed consistent from the floor all evening as he made 9-of-14 field goals and was 5-of-9 from the three-point line. The Longhorns totaled 13 threes while outscoring the Bulldogs, 27-7, off of 20 Bulldogs turnovers.
Marcus Carr followed Hunter with 16 points as he is playing his fifth season of college basketball after starting at Pitt, and he spent two seasons at Minnesota, before his stint with the Longhorns last season.
Hunter transferred across the Big 12 as he was at Iowa State last season as a freshman.
Texas took the lead for good midway through the first half as the Longhorns erased a 20-15 deficit with an 11-3 run that saw the ‘Horns take their first lead on a jam by Dillon Mitchell and the Hunter hit a three for a 24-20 lead.
“We certainly understand that a lot of the hype on this game revolves around the opponent and their success in basketball, the consistency in their program,” Texas head coach Chris Beard said. “We welcome that.”
Hunter scored 11 points in the first 4:26 of the second half as the Longhorns stretched a 47-37 margin at halftime to 61-42 with 15:34 remaining.
The Longhorns showed their depth as Carr played 37 minutes as a starter, but Beard had four players record double figures off the bench as New Mexico State transfer Sir’Jabari Rice played 27 minutes and scored 11 points.
“I don’t think it was anywhere close to our best 40 that we can play as the year goes on,” explained Beard. “I want to recognize our players’ effort and preparation. It’s a big win because we have so much respect for Gonzaga.”
It was a revenge game of sorts after the Longhorns dropped an 86-74 loss at Gonzaga last season.
“We’ve seen that film more than a few times since that night,” noted Carr. “It’s always been in the back of our minds. We watched it all year long.”
Drew Timme led the Bulldogs with 18 points as Julian Strawther posted 13 as Gonzaga shot 49 percent on the evening.