On Sunday afternoon in Austin, Texas, freshman Tre Johnson scored 18 points in just 22 minutes, leading Texas to a 77-53 victory over Northwestern State. The Longhorns (11-2) have won their fourth straight game since Johnson returned from missing two games due to strained right hip. He made 7 of 11 3-pointers from the floor and led Texas as they held the Demons to 30 percent shooting in the first half and built a 19-point lead. The Longhorns extended their lead to 56-26 on a dunk by Chendal Weaver with 13:50 remaining. Texas has enough to go all the way and is in good shape heading into their first game in the Southeastern Conference. The Longhorns will play rival No. 13 Texas A&M in their league opener on Saturday. For Texas, Jordan Pope had 11 points and Arthur Kalma had 13 rebounds. None of the Longhorns’ starters played more than 28 minutes. For the Demons, Micah Thomas scored 19 points, including 16 points in the second half, and Addison Patterson scored 18 points (5 wins, 7 losses). The Longhorns made an early attempt to bury Northwestern State, scoring the first eight points of the game in the first 3 minutes and 15 seconds of the first half. The Demons fought back with an 11-4 run, and Patterson hit a layup at 10:15 to cut the deficit to 12-11. Texas then went on an 18-4 run with two tough running jumpers and two 3-pointers from Johnson, the latter of which pushed the lead to 30-15 with 4:02 left in the first half. The Longhorns ended the first half with a bucket and a 3-pointer from Pope, two free throws and a nifty assist from Julian Lally for a dunk by Zelik Onyema, making it 41-22 at halftime. took the lead. Texas outscored the Demons 62.5 percent to 30 percent in the first 20 minutes of the game, and Johnson paced the Longhorns with 10 points before halftime. Patterson led all scorers with 12 points on five shots in the first half, while the rest of Northwestern State’s participants combined for four. The Longhorns scored the first eight points on jumpers and started the second half with a 3-pointer by Johnson and a 3-pointer by Calma. –Field level media
