No. 11 Longhorns Upset No. 2 Gonzaga in Austin
AUSTIN - The No. 11 ranked Texas Longhorns welcomed the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs to the Moody Center in Austin on Wednesday night, in one of the most high-profile early-season matchups in college basketball this season.
Not only was it a high-profile matchup for the Longhorns' brand new arena, but it was also an opportunity for Texas head coach Chris Beard to get a major signature win to kick off his second year at the helm.
And after a hard-fought battle, the Longhorns would earn that signature win, taking down the Bulldogs 93 - 74, and moving to 3-0 this season.
“Obviously, we said before the game that it would take our best 40 minutes to this point in our early season to play and beat Gonzaga at home,” Beard said. “That's what we did.”
The Longhorns got off to a hot start in the first half, taking a 10-point 47-37 lead into the locker room, behind the dynamic guard play of Marcus Carr and Tyrese Hunter, and solid bench contributions from Sir'Jabari Rice and Brock Cunningham.
"It's gonna be one of those nights," Hunter admitted he said to himself after one of his first-half 3-pointers.
After the second half began, the route continued, with the Longhorns building an insurmountable lead, and taking down the Bulldogs in convincing fashion.
"This is a really, really, really good team," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. " ... They're the real deal."
Hunter ended the game as the leading scorer for the Longhorns, pouring in 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting. He also hit 5 of 8 from three.
As a team, the Longhorns hit 52.3 percent of their shots from the field, and 40.6 from three, and forced the Bulldogs into 20 turnovers.
Following the matchup with the Bulldogs, the Longhorns will now turn their attention to a much less intimidating opponent next Monday, when they face Northern Arizona.
The Longhorns will then take on UT Rio Grande Valley in their final game of November, before a matchup with Creighton on December 1.
You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan
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