Texas Longhorns Transfers Make Immediate Impact in Loss Against Duke

The first game for the Texas Longhorns under new head coach Sean Miller likely didn't go the way the Longhorns would've hoped for after falling to the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils 75-60 at the Dick Vitale Invitational from Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Spectrum Center on Tuesday night.

Despite the 15-point loss, the final score does not indicate the way the Longhorns battled and how the matchup flowed throughout the 30-minute affair, as the Longhorns headed into halftime with a narrow one-point lead, 33-32 over the Blue Devils.

However, second-half struggles hurt the Longhorns in the end, which allowed the Blue Devils to run away with the game towards the end of the second half. Texas shot 31 percent from the field, making just nine of their 29 shot attempts in the second half. One silver lining from the loss on Tuesday night is the involvement of two of the Longhorns' transfers, who made an immediate impact against Duke.

Duo of New Longhorns Show out in Debuts

Texas Longhorns forward Dailyn Swain (3) shoots the ball against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half of the Dick Vitale’s Invitational game at Spectrum Center. | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

The two newcomers with the most significant impact against the Blue Devils are junior forward Dailyn Swain and sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis. The pair notched a combined 31 points on the night, accounting for half of the Longhorns' points, shooting 10 of 26 on their field goal attempts, and totaled 14 rebounds.

Swain played the most minutes of any Texas player with 36 minutes on the court and led the Longhorns in scoring in his first game in a burnt orange jersey. The junior finished the night with 16 points on 7 of 18 shooting, two of five from three-point range, six rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

The forward followed Miller from Xavier, heading to Austin after Miller was hired as the new Longhorns head coach back in March. In his time with the Musketeers, Swain averaged eight points, 4.3 rebounds, and two assists in two seasons with Xavier. Now in game one with Texas, the forward showed off his scoring ability that will be much needed for the Longhorns throughout the season.

The big seven-foot big man in Vokietaitis was a force in the paint for the Longhorns, as the second-year center finished the game tied as the second-leading scorer with 15 points, eight rebounds, and a block. Impressively, Vokietaitis was efficient from the free throw line, making 9 of his 10 free throw attempts.

The sophomore joins the Longhorns after spending his freshman campaign with Florida Atlantic, where the big man earned the AAC's Freshman of the Year award while averaging 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and about two blocks a game.

Texas already looks like a different team defensively, largely due to the presence of the seven-foot Vokietaitis in the paint, who will be crucial for the Longhorns throughout the season.