A fast start from Texas basketball in its 91-67 win over New Mexico State Thursday at Moody Center did more than quickly douse any upset hopes by the visiting Aggies.
It also provided a quick salve for the sting that still lingered from Sunday’s home loss to Connecticut. Texas sleepwalked through the first half of that disheartening 76-65 to the two-time defending national champions, but the Longhorns (8-2) applied the lessons learned from some tough practices into a win over a New Mexico State team (4-6) that could be a factor in the Conference USA race.
“We spent two days working hard on playing with urgency, playing with the purpose,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “I thought our guys came out tonight with the great effort and really set the tone early defensively and shared the ball, moved the ball, and did a nice job tonight.”
Tramon Mark keys fast start
Texas played arguably its best half of the season while opening up a 50-25 lead by the break. The Longhorns shot 63% from the floor in the first half, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range. Better yet for a team that has relied heavily on the scoring of freshman guard Tre Johnson and senior forward Arthur Kaluma, Texas got lots of production from some new sources.
Tramon Mark, an Arkansas transfer who has struggled to find his rhythm since coming back from a preseason ankle injury six games ago, exploded out of the gate with eight of his team’s first 10 points and ended with 14 points. Ze’Rik Onyema had eight of his 10 points by the break after scoring a total of 10 points in his previous six games. Guard Jordan Pope – one of the Pac-12’s leading scorers at Oregon State last season at 17.6 points a game – reached double-figures with 10 points for just the fourth time this season.
Heck, even freshman Nic Codie got in the scorebook with four points, including a baseline dunk in the first half for his first basket as a Longhorn.
Kaluma still led Texas with 18 points and tied Mark for team-high honors in rebounds with eight. The Longhorns could afford a quiet night from Johnson, the team’s leading scorer who had a season-low nine points.
New Mexico State: Aggies can’t carry over weekend momentum
While Texas caught fire early, New Mexico State still seemed caught up in Saturday’s emotional 89-83 win at rival New Mexico, at least in the first half.
But New Mexico State coach Jason Hooten had no patience for that theory.
“I’m not an excuse maker, and that’s unacceptable,” he said. “I mean, how many kids actually get to play the University of Texas? You know, on a stage like this, you’ve got to be ready to play.”
But Hooten, a Texas native who grew up in Killeen and spent three decades coaching in his home state, also tried to put into context the emotional toll of the Aggies’ rivalry with New Mexico.
“That game in New Mexico I can’t really explain to you guys,” he said. “I grew up in Texas. I had half of my family that were Aggies and half of my family were Longhorns. And I get that whole deal, but y’all don’t understand that the rivalry between New Mexico and New Mexico State is by far larger than that, and it’s because there’s no pro teams, there’s nothing else in the state of New Mexico but those two universities. There are people, they live for that victory.”
Senior guard Christian Cook scored a game-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting, but the other Aggies combined to shoot just 16-of-40 from the floor.
Hooten had a large support section in the stands. Hooten has built quite a coaching legacy in his home state, including stints as an assistant at his alma mater of Tarleton State as well as at Sam Houston State. He took over the Sam Houston State program as the head coach in 2010 and became the Bearkats’ all-time leader in coaching wins before taking on the rebuilding effort at New Mexico State last season.
The return to Texas included a sideline reunion with Terry, who has been one of Hooten’s close friends since the two competed against each other in high school.
“Rodney and I are best friends, so it was a hard game to play,” he said. “I mean, we didn’t really want to play each other. We always told each other we wouldn’t do it. And then he got to a point where he was desperate to find one more game. And, you know, we were desperate. We needed this game financially.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas vs NMSU score: Horns race past Aggies
