Elijah Mitrou-Long scored a season-high 16 points in just his second start of the year while leading a balanced offensive attack as Texas built a huge first-half lead on the way to an easy 98-60 victory over Grand Canyon University on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
Jase Febres added a season-high 16 points for Texas (7-3) while Kerwin Roach II hit for 15 points, and Dylan Osetkowski and Courtney Ramey scored 10 each for the Longhorns, who have won two straight after a three-game losing streak.
Michael Finke led Grand Canyon (5-5) with 17 points while Carlos Johnson hit for 13 points for the Antelopes, who were outrebounded 43-27.
Texas set the tone early and often, running out to a 49-24 lead with 4:14 left in the first half on the strength of a 9-0 run and hitting nine of its first 13 shots from beyond the arc.
The Longhorns were on top by as many as 28 points in the first half before taking a 56-30 advantage at the break. The 56 points were a season-high at halftime for Texas, which got 27 points from its non-starters in the half, nearly matching the entire total of Grand Canyon at the half.
Texas throttled things back in the second half and couldn't continue its over-the-top shooting, but it didn't have to, thanks to its big lead and balanced scoring and depth. The Longhorns shot just 48 percent after halftime and ended up at 58.7 percent for the game.
Roach, coming off the bench for the first time this season, hit all five of his field-goal attempts in the first half -- including both of his 3-pointers -- and led all scorers with 12 points at halftime. Texas outshot the Antelopes 69 percent to 39 percent over the first 20 minutes of play and had an 18-11 edge in rebounding.
The Antelopes finished at 36.1 percent from the field.
--Field Level Media
Grand Canyon | Texas | |
Michael Finke 17 | Scoring | Jase Febres 16 |
Damari Milstead 5 | Assists | Courtney Ramey 8 |
Carlos Johnson 7 | Rebounds | Dylan Osetkowski 7 |
Michael Finke 4 | Free Throws Made | Royce Hamm Jr. 3 |
Oscar Frayer 1 | Steals | Elijah Mitrou-Long 2 |
Oscar Frayer 1 | Blocks | Jaxson Hayes 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Grand Canyon | 60 | 36.1 | 8-27 | 8-11 | 12 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
Texas | 98 | 58.7 | 16-30 | 8-11 | 22 | 40 | 5 | 5 | 11 |