AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas coach Shaka Smart offers a guideline to his players after they make a mistake: move on.

"Just focus on the next play," senior guard Kendal Yancy said.

So when Yancy made a critical turnover with less than four minutes remaining in a close game against Incarnate Word, he followed his coach's advice. Yancy scored four of his 19 points in the final 1:37, enabling No. 21 Texas to avoid an upset and win its opener 78-73 Friday night.

Jarrett Allen, the Longhorns' 6-foot-11 highly touted freshman forward, produced 16 points and 12 rebounds in his college debut.

Another Texas freshman, 6-10 center James Banks, blocked five shots and grabbed nine rebounds. Guard Eric Davis scored 16.

Guard Shawn Johnson scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half for Incarnate Word. Guard Sam Burmeister added 12 points.

Texas led by 18 early in the second half, but Johnson scored nine points in a span of less than two minutes, cutting the deficit to five.

Yancy made his mistake with 3:46 left, allowing Jalin Hart to steal the ball and make a fast-break layup that left the Longhorns ahead by just one point.

Burneister then put Incarnate Word ahead 67-66 with 2:33 remaining on a 3-point basket, but Yancy reclaimed the lead for Texas with a pair of free throws with 1:37 left. Yancy made a layup with 49 seconds left. He scored 13 in the second half.

Incarnate Word had possession, and the one-point lead, with the clock ticking down near two minutes, but Johnson made a turnover, leading to Yancy's go-ahead free throws.

"After we took the lead, I think we let it get to our heads," Johnson said. "We started over-thinking. We started to want to take too much. We wanted to take a jump from one point to five points. I committed a silly turnover."

Texas played without sophomore guards Kerwin Roach and Tevin Mack, both suspended by Smart for violating undisclosed team rules. Roach is the likely starter at point guard. Mack also has a chance to start. They will return for the Longhorns' game on Monday against Louisiana-Monroe.

Allen scored 13 points by halftime, converting 6 of 7 shots, and Texas led 44-31. The Longhorns shot a tidy 57 percent in the half but hurt themselves with 11 turnovers, some on careless passes. They also missed five free throws.

Incarnate Word limited Allen to three points in the second half with a zone defense that sometimes collapses around him.

"It frustrates you," Allen said. "But you just have to work around it."

Allen did make a key play late in the game, diving on a loose ball after losing it in the lane. The Longhorns called timeout with 1:04 left, Yancy then made his layup, and Texas escaped.

"You want to go out and have a dominating performance," Smart said. "But the bottom line is our guys came back after we relinquished a double-digit lead. We were down one, and some guys made some winning plays."

NOTES: F Mareik Isom, expected to be a rotation player for Texas, missed the game Friday while recovering from arthroscopic surgery for a bacterial infection in his left ankle. He is expected back in a few weeks. The 6-9 Isom averaged six points, converting nearly 40 percent of his 3-point attempts, last season at Arkansas-Little Rock before transferring to Texas as a graduate senior. With Roach, Mack and Isom missing, Texas had seven scholarship players. ... Incarnate Word, formerly an NCAA Division II school, is in its fourth transitional season in Division I. The Cardinals were picked by Southland Conference coaches to finish 10th among 13 teams in the league. ... Shaq Cleare, the Longhorns' 6-8 center, prepared for his senior season by losing more than 30 pounds. He's now listed at 275. Cleare started on Friday, but the lost weight didn't help him avoid fouling out in 11 minutes.