Texas Longhorns Basketball: Second Half Surge Buries High Point

Second half surge, led by Jase Febres buries High Point against the Texas Longhorns in Austin.

The Texas Longhorns changed up their starting five for their matchup against High Point with Andrew Jones and Kamaka Hepa. Matt Coleman III started off the scoring with a runner for three before the shot clock expired. The Longhorns started off the game with a 6-0 run before a Jericho Sims turnover led to the Panthers first basket on a breakaway bucket.

Early in the first half the Longhorns built their lead to 19-6, the Panthers had a hard time scoring with 2-14 shooting.  They would get within three points of Texas 21-18 with eight minutes left in the first half. The 10-2 run by High Point started when Shaka Smart went deep into his bench to make the game a little too close for comfort.

The free shooting was the big story in the first half, while the Longhorns struggled from the charity stripe, the Panthers were able to keep the game close with excellent free throw shooing during the first half. Texas would answer back with a 10-2 run in the final four minutes to get the lead for the Longhorns 41-29 at the break.

The Longhorns built their lead to 20 midway through the second half 57-37 shooting 60% from the field after coming out of the locker room. Jase Febres seemed to find his touch from behind the arc after barely getting minutes in the first half. Febres hit four of his first five three pointers, including back to back to build the lead to 64-39.

As the second half wore on, the Panthers just couldn’t match with Texas scoring increasing their lead to 35 points 77-42 with under seven minutes left in the game. The Panthers without their leading scorer Curtis Holland III, High Point and Tubby Smith didn’t have much hope of pulling off the upset in Austin. The Longhorns improved their home record to 7-0 and collected their 10th win on the year 89-58. Next up for Smart and the Longhorns are the Baylor Bears.

Leading Scorer

Jase Febres (16)

Leading Rebounder

Jericho Sims (11)