Tramon Mark racked up 18 points to lead six Texas players in double-figure scoring as the Longhorns romped past Le Moyne 95-53 on Tuesday night in Austin, Texas.
Texas (8-4) led by 11 points at halftime after battling through a ragged final six minutes of the first half in which they scored only three points. But the Longhorns opened the second half on a tear, pushing their advantage to a then-game-high 21 points, 53-32, four and a half minutes after the break and to 76-43 after a Jordan Pope 3-pointer with 8:10 to play.
It’s the fourth time this season that Texas has rebounded from a loss by winning its following game by at least 26 points, albeit against mid-major opponents.
Matas Vokietaitis added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Longhorns while Dailyn Swain hit for 15 points, Pope and Simeon Wilcher had 11 each and Camden Heide tallied 10 points. Lassina Traore took a game-high 11 boards for Texas.
Trent Mosquera led Le Moyne (5-6) with 14 points, with Jakai Sanders adding 12 and Deng Garang scoring 10.
The Longhorns never trailed, building a 13-5 lead on Mark’s layup at the 16:34 mark of the first half. After a jumper by Sanders cut the deficit to four points, Texas pushed the margin to double figures for the first time on a pair of free throws by Mark with 10:28 left in the first half.
Texas expanded its advantage to 38-18 via a 13-0 run capped by Wilcher’s 3-pointer with 6:43 to play in the half. But the Dolphins swung back, finishing the half by scoring 12 of the final 15 points and pulling to within 41-30 at the break when Garang scored on a second-chance jumper with 16 seconds remaining.
No one scored in double figures over the opening 20 minutes of play, with Vokietaitis leading Texas with nine and Garang pacing the Dolphins with eight points before halftime.
Mark canned back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second half and that all but ended any chance of a Le Moyne comeback. Two free throws by Chendall Weaver at the 15:25 mark pushed the Longhorns’ lead to 53-32 and Swain’s layup with 8:47 to play stoked the margin to 30 points.
–Field Level Media
