Julien Lewis ended a brief cold spell with a 16-point outburst off the bench to lead Texas past rival Texas A&M 61-51 on Wednesday night.
Lewis — a freshman guard who had totaled only 16 points in his previous four games — shot 6-of-10 from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
The Aggies (9-6, 0-3 Big 12), once considered the co-favorites to win the Big 12, committed 17 turnovers in their third straight ugly loss to open conference play. Khris Middleton scored a game-high 19 points to lead Texas A&M.
J’Covan Brown added 14 points on 10-of-10 free-throw shooting for the Longhorns (12-4, 2-1 Big 12), who beat the Aggies for the 10th straight time at the Frank Erwin Center.
The two teams combined for 19 turnovers in a sloppy first half that Texas closed with a narrow 26-24 advantage.
After falling behind 35-34 midway through the second half, Texas went on a 9-0 run and took a 43-35 lead on a couple of Clint Chapman free throws with 9:16 remaining.
Texas A&M cut the lead to three points multiple times in the last few minutes, but Lewis’ 3-pointer with 3:37 left gave the Longhorns their biggest lead of the game at 54-45.
Texas A&M | Texas | |
Khris Middleton 19 | Scoring | Julien Lewis 16 |
David Loubeau 3 | Assists | J'Covan Brown 6 |
Khris Middleton 10 | Rebounds | Clint Chapman 7 |
Khris Middleton 3 | Free Throws Made | J'Covan Brown 10 |
Dash Harris 3 | Steals | Myck Kabongo 2 |
Ray Turner 2 | Blocks | Clint Chapman 1 |