The Sports Xchange
Nov 10, 2017
Freshman Mo Bamba scored 15 points and transfer Dylan Osetkowski added 13 points and 10 rebounds as Texas jumped out to a quick lead and ran away with a 105-59 win over outmanned Northwestern State (La.) on Friday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
It was quite a season debut for the Longhorns, who scored more than 100 points for only the second time in the two-years-and-one-game Texas coaching tenure of Shaka Smart.
Texas (1-0) was picked to finish fourth of 10 teams in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll, behind Kansas, West Virginia and TCU. The Longhorns were 11-22 last season and did not play in the NCAA tournament.
The Longhorns scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back, forging a 23-2 run midway through the half to produce an early knockout punch.
All five starters and two reserves scored in double figures for the Longhorns as Andrew Jones added 14 points, freshman Jase Fabres scored 13 off the bench, freshman Matt Coleman hit for 11 and distributed seven assists, and Kerwin Roach II and reserve Jacob Young tallied 10 points apiece.
The Demons (0-1) got 15 points from Czar Perry, 11 off the bench from Jacob Perry and 10 from Iziahiah Sweeney.
Texas outshot the Demons 51.3-36.7 and hit 17 of its 19 free throws in the first half on the way to an overwhelming 62-27 lead at halftime. Jones led the Longhorns with 12 points in the first 20 minutes as no Northwestern State starter scored more than six points.
Northwestern State was picked to finish eighth out of 13 teams in the Southland Conference preseason poll. The Demons were 13-16 in 2016-17.