No. 19 Texas looks to rebound from a rare season-opening loss and get back on the winning track when it hosts Houston Christian on Friday in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns begin their home schedule after an 80-72 loss to Ohio State on Monday in their season opener at Las Vegas.
Texas received a game-high 29 points from budding star Tre Johnson, who established a program record for points in a freshman debut, topping the previous mark of 20 by Kevin Durant in a home win against Alcorn State on Nov. 9, 2006.
Texas also received 10 points each from Arthur Kaluma and Kadin Shedrick in the loss, which marked the first time the Longhorns dropped their opening game since 2015 when they lost to Washington in Shanghai, China.
Texas never led against Ohio State after surrendering 10 baskets from 3-point range to the hot-shooting Buckeyes in the first half.
“Ten 3s in the first half was a lot to overcome,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “We kept battling through it and gave ourselves a chance down the stretch. We’ve got to continue to work on our defense, continue to get better defensively, and we will.”
The Longhorns played without guard Tramon Mark, who is battling a right ankle injury. Mack’s availability for Friday’s game is to be determined.
While it looked like Johnson’s spectacular debut might be enough to push Texas to the win, Ohio State’s balanced attack eventually prevailed.
“The best is still yet to come for Tre,” Terry said. “He’s playing really hard on defense as well as trying to score the ball on offense. Tre is one of those guys that, again, plays the game to win. He’s not all caught up in how many points he has”.
Friday’s game is the first of three straight at home for the Longhorns, who have won all four previous meetings against Houston Christian, including a 77-50 victory in Austin last season.
Houston Christian (1-0) defeated Avila 86-59 at home on Monday. The Huskies got 18 points from Bryson Dawkins, 11 each from Demari Williams and Julia Mackey and 10 from Pierce Bazil in the win. It was their first season opener at home since squaring off with Trinity University to begin the 2007-08 season.
Houston Christian posted a victory to begin a season for the first time since a 72-68 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the opening game of the Rainbow Classic to start the 2012-13 campaign.
It was also the initial win in the tenure of Craig Doty, Houston Christian’s first-year coach. Doty replaced Ron Cottrell, who spent the previous 33 seasons at the Huskies’ helm.
Houston Christian was picked 12th (last) in the Southland Conference’s preseason poll and did not have a player chosen for the All-SLC team.
Friday’s contest is the first of a pair on the road against ranked teams for Houston Christian. The Huskies play at No. 15 Creighton on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
