Arthur Kaluma scored 18 points to pace a balanced Texas attack as the host Longhorns downed New Mexico State 91-67 on Thursday in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (8-2) led by 25 points at halftime after allowing New Mexico State just 17 points over the final 14 and a half minutes of the first half. Texas never let its collective foot off the accelerator, going up by as many as 30 points in the final minutes and cruising to the finish line.
Tramon Mark added 14 points while Ze’rik Onyema and Jordan Pope hit for 10 each for the Longhorns, who shot 58.6 percent from the floor, earned a 36-24 edge in rebounding and a 19-5 advantage in fast break points.
Texas’ fabulous freshman Tre Johnson scored just nine points in 26 minutes, marking the first time in his 10 collegiate games that he didn’t either lead or tie for the team’s top scorer.
New Mexico State’s Christian Cook led all scorers with 22 points, with Zawdie Jackson adding 14, Jaden Harris 11 and Peter Filipovity hitting for 10 points for the Aggies (4-6).
The Longhorns scored the game’s first five points, led 10-4 after a jumper by Mark at the 17:28 mark but just 14-10 after Cook canned a jumper with 14:41 to play in the first half. That’s when Texas stepped up the pace and the scoring, reeling off 17 of the next 19 points and taking a 31-12 advantage when Johnson poured in a shot with 7:19 remaining before halftime.
Texas continued to build on its lead, pushing the margin to 28 points on Onyema’s layup with 1:37 left. A jumper by Filipovity with 31 seconds remaining cut the Longhorns’ lead to 52-27 at the break.
Kaluma led Texas’ balanced attack with a dozen points before halftime while Mark added 10. The Longhorns outshot New Mexico State 62.5 percent to 50 percent in the half while forcing nine turnovers that they turned into 16 points over the first 20 minutes.
Cook paced the Aggies with eight points in the first half as the visitors were just 1 of 8 from beyond the arc.
Texas was able to sustain the margin through the first 12 minutes of the second half as the Aggies got no closer than 19 points.
–Field Level Media
