Tre Johnson scored 17 points to lead four Texas scorers in double figures, and the Longhorns beat Saint Joseph’s 67-58 to win the Legends Classic championship on Friday in New York City.
Texas (5-1) went back-and-forth with Saint Joseph’s (4-2) for most of the night, combining for eight ties and 10 lead changes. But the Longhorns took the lead for good with 5:02 remaining when Kadin Shedrick tipped home a dunk off of a Johnson miss.
Shedrick threw down another put-back dunk on the following possession, igniting Texas on a 16-6 run to close out the game.
Johnson and Shedrick combined for 12 of the 16 points in the Longhorns’ decisive run. All six of Shedrick’s points in that stretch came off of dunks, and he finished the night with 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Arthur Kaluma added 14 points and three blocks for Texas, and Julian Larry shot 3-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line en route to 12 points.
Rasheer Fleming led Saint Joseph’s with 16 points, 20 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Xzayvier Brown was the only other Hawks player to score in double figures, finishing with 15 points. He shot 4-of-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. Aside from Brown and Anthony Finkley, who scored all six of his points on 2-of-2 3-point shooting, the rest of the Saint Joseph’s lineup went 1-of-14 from long distance.
The Hawks’ shooting woes also showed up inside the arc, where Saint Joseph’s went 14-of-43, and at the foul line (9 of 17). The Hawks went 9-of-17 at the charity stripe, including a pair by Derek Simpson that would have given Saint Joseph’s the lead back before Texas began its late-game run.
–Field Level Media
