The Texas Longhorns recovered from a slow start in a convincing 93-58 win over the Farleigh Dickinson Knights at the Moody Center on Wednesday, the second matchup in a four-game homestand before head coach
Sean Miller’s team heads to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational.
Graduate guard Tramon Mark led the way for the Horns with an efficient performance, scoring a game-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, adding four rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis was equally impressive, converting all eight of his shot attempts on the way to 19 points, six rebounds, and a block. Senior guard Jordan Pope and junior wing Dailyn Swain also reached double digits for Texas, which shot 52.3 percent from the floor and forced 26 fouls by FDU that turned into 34 free-throw attempts.
The Longhorns only 19 of those free throws, 55.9 percent, and shot just 26.1 percent from three, areas for improvement for the team over the remainder of non-conference play.
Where Texas did succeed was getting into the paint against Fairleigh Dickinson, scoring 50 points there, including 19 layups.
Keeping the Knights out of transition, the Horns only gave up three fast-break points and finished defensive possessions with stops, allowing three second-chance points while finishing plus-13 in rebounding margin.
Texas fell behind early as Fairleigh Dickinson hit two threes during a stretch of three consecutive made baskets as the Knights took a 10-2 lead just a little over three minutes into the game, but Vokietaitis responded with a skilled move into a left-handed finish through contact, Swain took a defensive rebound coast to coast for a layup, and Mark drove left for his own layup, then hit a hit three and drew a foul that sent the game into the first media timeout with Texas on a 9-0 run.
Junior guard Simeon Wilcher continued the run by making the Knights pay for going into a zone defense by hitting a three. Defensively, the Horns forced nine straight missed shots by the visitors after a scoreless stretch of nearly five minutes to rebound from the slow start. Texas wasn’t able to open up a lead, however, thanks to five consecutive misfires of their own before senior guard Jordan Pope converted a three-point play and Vokietaitis scored around the rim.
The margin did reach double digits for the first time as the Horns imposed their will inside — Vokietaitis converted his third opportunity at a three-point play, senior forward Lassina Traore added one of his own, sophomore forward Nic Codie threw down a resounding dunk on a nice pass from Wilcher, and Mark scored twice around the rim.
An 11-0 run by Texas late in the half extended the lead to a game-high 22 points and included the first three in burnt orange and white for junior forward Camden Heide and a breakaway dunk by Swain after a steal. At halftime, the Horns led 43-24 behind 22 points in the paint that featured eight layups. And despite the quick start by FDU, Miller’s team held the visitors to 26.5-percent shooting.
Three made baskets by Texas to open the second half, including a layup by Swain on a good look-ahead pass from Pope in transition, forced an early timeout by Fairleigh Dickinson with the margin back over 20 points. The Knights got into the lane for two back-to-back layups and hit a three, prompting a timeout by Longhorns head coach Sean Miller, upset with his team’s defense.
Midway through the second half, Texas got scorching hot from the floor, making eight consecutive shots, including six layups, three by Vokietaitis, who scored seven straight for the Longhorns as the lead ballooned to 34 points.
The margin ultimately reached as many as 38 points for Texas.
On Saturday, Miller’s team hosts Kansas City at noon central on SEC Network+.
