No. 17 Texas will look to get back on the winning track and remain unbeaten at home when the Longhorns host hapless Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (6-2) return to the floor after a 64-60 loss on the road at then-No. 23 Seton Hall on Thursday that snapped Texas’ five-game win streak.
The game was tied at halftime and went back and forth in the second half before the Pirates took a 58-56 advantage with 5:29 remaining and held the lead for good. The Longhorns missed eight shots in a row before Timmy Allen’s layup with 52 seconds to play pulled them to within a point, but a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Seton Hall over the final 33 seconds ultimately doomed Texas.
“This was our first kind of one-possession, last-four-minutes, tougher-team-will-win type of game, and I think that showed,” Texas coach Chris Beard said after the loss. “It’s a great learning opportunity for us.”
Texas’ Tre Mitchell led all scorers in the loss with a season-high 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Allen added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Longhorns while Marcus Carr had 10 in a game that featured 10 ties and eight lead changes.
The Longhorns suffered team season-lows in points (60), 3-pointers made (one), 3-point field goal percentage (7.7 percent) and assists (eight) in the loss.
“We had an objective and what we wanted to try to get done in the last four minutes and we just didn’t do it,” Beard said. “And I think you got to give Seton Hall credit for that. I’m proud of how our guys responded. They played hard. I thought the first team to 70 (points) would win it and we just didn’t have enough offense down the stretch.”
Both of Texas’ defeats this season have come in true road games against Top 25 opponents. The Longhorns lost at then-No. 1 Gonzaga on Nov. 13.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-10) continues its demanding early-season schedule with its first-ever trip to Austin to face the Longhorns. The Golden Lions’ most recent game was an 84-73 loss at home to Arkansas State on Dec. 8, Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s first loss at home this year.
Brandon Brown paced the Golden Lions in the loss to Arkansas State, putting up 21 points and snatching 11 rebounds. Dequan Morris added 19 points for Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which led by 10 points at the half but could not hold on down the stretch.
“Dequan is our glue, and Brandon just brings that toughness every night,” Arkansas-Pine Bluff coach Solomon Bozeman said about his leading scorers in Wednesday’s loss. “We have to do better defensively — the effort just wasn’t there for us in the second half.”
The Golden Lions are 0-9 on the road this season and have already dropped road games, in blowout fashion, to two teams from the Big 12 Conference — Iowa State (83-64) and Baylor (99-54).
Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s 10 losses have come by an average of 23.3 points per game. Its only win this season was by five points over Arkansas Baptist College, an NAIA program.
–Field Level Media
