Andrew Jones scored 20 points and Courtney Ramey added 13 as Texas did just enough at the right times to beat Alabama-Birmingham 67-57 on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns led by 13 at the break but missed seven of their first eight shots in the second half to allow UAB to cut the advantage to 44-38 on a jumper by Tyreek Scott-Grayson with 14:03 to play.
Texas (7-1) then rediscovered its shooting stroke and never let the Blazers closer than seven points the rest of the way, as Jones hit a big 3-pointer with just under three minutes to play to help the Longhorns to pull away.
Sims added 10 points for the Longhorns, who outshot UAB 49 percent to 41.5 percent and won despite getting outrebounded 33-25 and outscored in the paint 34-22. The difference Tuesday was from long distance -- Texas went 11 of 25 on its 3-pointers while UAB was 4 of 13.
Texas won its third straight game after going 6-1 in November, its best mark for the month in the four-plus-years with Shaka Smart as coach and the best seven-game start for the Longhorns since the 2014-15 season.
Tavin Lovan led UAB (5-2) with 12 points, with Scott-Grayson scoring 11 and Tamell Pearson adding 10. The loss was the second straight for Blazers, who came to Austin on the heels of 69-58 defeat at No. 9 Kentucky.
The Longhorns shot 56 percent from the floor, and were 6 of 12 from beyond the arc, in building a 38-25 lead at halftime. Jones had 11 points in the half, including three of Texas' treys as the Longhorns led by as many as 17 points.
Lovan led the Blazers with 6 points in the half. UAB was just 11 of 27 from the field (40.7 percent) and shot just two free throws.
--Field Level Media
UAB | Texas | |
Tavin Lovan 12 | Scoring | Andrew Jones 20 |
Jalen Benjamin 3 | Assists | Matt Coleman III 4 |
Tavin Lovan 6 | Rebounds | Courtney Ramey 5 |
Makhtar Gueye 3 | Free Throws Made | Jericho Sims 4 |
Tyreek Scott-Grayson 2 | Steals | Matt Coleman III 4 |
Tyreek Scott-Grayson 2 | Blocks | Kai Jones 3 |