Tyrese Hunter lights up No. 2 Gonzaga, leads Texas to 19-point victory
Texas guard Tyrese Hunter was a freshman at Iowa State when the Gonzaga men’s basketball team notched a double-digit win over the Longhorns in Spokane last season.
However, in a rematch between Gonzaga and Texas in Austin on Wednesday, the reigning Big-12 Newcomer of the Year was in a Longhorns uniform, and it may have been the difference.
Hunter scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field as the No. 11 Longhorns (3-0) defeated the second-ranked Zags (2-1) 93-74 in the Moody Center.
“It was a hell of a game,” Hunter said in a postgame interview on the ESPN broadcast. “I just want to shout out my teammates, they put me in a position for this, and shout out myself for just putting in the work.”
Texas led 47-37 at the intermission, but 17 second-half points from Hunter put the Zags in a hole too deep to dig themselves out of.
Hunter nailed five of his eight 3-point attempts as the Longhorns shot nearly 40% from beyond the arc. Texas’ 13 made 3-pointers were far greater than the seven combined shots it made from that range in its first two regular-season games.
“They hit a lot of deep 3s,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of Texas. “We were trying to shore up those guards’ penetration. They had not shot the ball like that coming in so we were kind of concerned about guard penetration.”
Starting alongside Hunter in the backcourt was Marcus Carr, the Longhorns’ second-highest scorer with 16 points. He also added seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.
The Zags were led by Drew Timme, who had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
Timme scored a career-high 37 points when the programs faced off last season, and it was clear the Longhorns’ defensive scheme was aimed at preventing a similar performance. Texas double-teamed Timme on a number of possessions, which made it difficult for him to help the Zags mount a comeback like they did against Michigan State.
The two other Gonzaga players to score in double digits were guards Julian Strawther and Rasir Bolton, who had 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Guard Nolan Hickman had eight points for the Zags before an ankle injury forced him to leave the game with six minutes left.
“His ankle’s pretty banged up,” said Few. “I haven't had a chance to talk to (athletic trainer) Josh (Therrien), but yeah it didn't look great.”
If Hickman isn’t available to play in Sunday’s game against No. 4 Kentucky, Few could turn to a different guard to start at the point, including Hunter Sallis and Malachi Smith.
The Zags will play the Wildcats at Spokane Arena. Tipoff is 4:30 p.m. PT.
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