In their final non conference game of the year, Texas knew they needed to build on the good performance they showed on Monday’s victory over Iowa State. The Longhorns did just that, getting another great performance from Mo Bamba en route to a 85-72 victory over Ole Miss. Bamba poured in 25 points and collected 15 rebounds, giving him his 10th double-double of the season.
The Rebels took advantage of some shaky interior Texas defense for much of the first half. Center Dominik Olejniczak started the game 4 for 4 from the field and had 14 first half points, but Texas was still able to take a 45-36 lead into halftime. In the second half, the Longhorns limited Olejniczak to 2 points and began to build a lead that got up to 16 points at one point. The loss drops the Rebels to 11-10 overall and 0-6 on the road.
Texas used a balanced scoring attack to compliment the 25 points from Bamba. Except for Matt Coleman, every Texas starter finished in double figures. Dylan Osetkowski finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Freshman Jase Febres connected on 4 three pointers for all 12 of his points. As a team, Texas only shot 32.3% from deep, but were helped out by shooting 45.2% from the field and 82.6% from the free throw line, lead by Bamba’s 12-13 performance at the charity stripe. Bamba exited the game briefly in the first half due to a thigh injury, but returned shortly after and showed no ill effects of the injury. On defense, the Longhorns held the Rebels to 35.2% from the field, holding 4 of 5 Ole Miss starters to less than 7 points.
The Longhorns will return to Big 12 play on Wednesday when they travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech. The game will tip off at 8 PM CST on ESPNU. Follow along here at HornSports for live updates.
