Texas Longhorns Guard Continues Hot Streak

While the Texas Longhorns ultimately couldn’t come away with a win over No. 2 Alabama on Tuesday night — suffering its third-straight defeat — its top NBA Draft prospect in Tre Johnson was again able to showcase his skillset.

A 6-foot-5 combo guard, Johnson has long been on NBA Draft radars as a five-star, and his scoring ability has been on full display for the Longhorns so far this season.

On Tuesday night, that held true, as Johnson poured on a team-high 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting, adding four assists and three rebounds. He cashed in on half of his eight attempts from beyond the arc, and nailed both free throws in an all-around scoring performance. Texas eventually lost in blowout fashion, 103-80, falling to a superior Alabama squad.

Primary concerns with Johnson lie in his ability to contribute in other areas, especially defensively. And some of that was quelled with his additional stats on Tuesday.

On the season, he’s now averaging close to 20 points per game — an obviously elite mark for a freshman — along with 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting over 43% overall.

Johnson isn’t likely to command a No. 1-scoring option role out of the gate in the NBA, but the potential certainly seems to be there at the shooting guard position.

Per an earlier scouting report from NBA Draft on SI on Johnson: “While he won’t play much lead guard, Johnson does have passing chops that will prove to be useful moving forward. Especially if he ends up being a primary scorer at the NBA level and has the ball in his hands at a high rate, his ability to set up and find others will be very valuable. When he doesn’t have the ball in his hands, Johnson will need to continue to find ways to impact the ball and do more than just score.”

The Longhorns next take on No. 15 Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 15. The Wildcats just earned a massive win over No. 5 Tennessee on Tuesday night, and will be looking to issue Texas its fourth-straight loss.

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