Texas Longhorns sophomore center Matas Vokietaits pushed around the undersized Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks on Monday night at the Moody Center in a 94-71 win, scoring a game-high 22 points, tying his
career high with 21 free-throw attempts by drawing 13 fouls, and setting a school record for free-throw attempts in a half with 17 after halftime.
“We have to be able to be smarter and even better at getting him the ball in scoring position,” Texas head coach Sean Miller said.
In a familiar storyline for Vokietaitis, the combination of mounting frustration from the fouls and his own inability to avoid fouls resulted in his disqualification with 23 seconds remaining following a double technical foul during a chippy stretch late in the game.
Senior guard Jordan Pope scored 21 points on five made threes, graduate guard Tramon Mark added 17 points, two assists, and two steals, and junior wing Dailyn Swain recorded his second double-double of the 2025-26 season with 14 points and 10 rebounds, also notching four assists and four steals.
If those were the positive aspects for the Longhorns, the sum total of the performance was the worst of the season, according to Miller, who pointed to a resurgence of defensive issues for Texas that ranged from perimeter defense to post defense to pure effort level.
“I just thought we didn’t have, as a group, the will, the toughness, the intensity, the togetherness, the fight, and desire that is going to take to be at the very best that we can be in the SEC,” Miller said.
“As you learn, grow and improve, and get better as a team, the foundation of it is high effort.”
Up-and-down effort levels helped contribute to Maryland Eastern Shore, one of the nation’s worst offensive teams in adjusted efficiency, turnover rate, free-throw rate, and three-point shooting, to hit 46.3 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three, and get to the free-throw line 15 times in the second half, reflective of Texas’ continued issues defending without fouling.
Particularly frustrating for the first-year Longhorns head coach was the inability to translate the team’s scouting report on Hawks leading scorer Joseph Locandro, who hit three threes and scored 12 points despite fouling out in 16 minutes.
“It’s not like he hit some tough, contested threes at the end of the clock. For the most part, his threes were pretty much uncontested,” Miller said.
The physical attributes possessed by Vokietaitis aren’t translating into consistently effective defense, either.
“I just think that there’s a completely different level that he can get to, a standard that he can get to defensively, that he’s not at — being able to play without fouling, being able to guard on the perimeter. One of the things that’s amazing about Matas is how fast and agile he is, and he’s a hard-working guy,” Miller said.
“Usually, those characteristics allow you to be adept at guarding a shooter, guarding a low-post player, and being able to do the different things that he’s going to be required to do. Right now, we need him to improve in that area.”
So, is Texas ready for the SEC opener against Mississippi State on Jan. 3?
“Whether we’re ready or not, here it comes,” Miller said. “I mean, that’s it.”
