Following a big win at Purdue on Saturday night, Texas returned home to the Frank Erwin Center to face off against Cal Baptist. Despite a sluggish start and a rough shooting performance from deep, the Longhorns used a strong defensive performance to pull out a 67-54 victory. The win moves Texas to 3-0 on the young season and drops Cal Baptist to 2-1.
Throughout the first half, the Longhorns allowed Cal Baptist to hang around thanks to a poor shooting performance from 3-point range. The Longhorns began the game 2 for 14 from deep and finished 6 for 24 overall. The poor shooting performance combined with a strong close to the half by Cal Baptist had the Longhorns going into the locker room clinging to a 26-22 lead.
The second half was much of the same story, with the Lancers hanging around and trading punches with the Longhorns. A 3-pointer by Ferron Flowers with 7:23 remaining in the game pulled Cal Baptist within 3 points at 50-47. It ended up being the closest the Lancers would get the remainder of the game, as the Longhorns closed on a 17-7 run to close out the win.
Jericho Sims paced the Longhorns with the first double-double of his career. The junior registered 11 points and 11 rebounds. Courtney Ramey led all scorers with 19 points and added 6 rebounds. The only other Longhorn player to record double figures was Andrew Jones, who chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Texas will return to action on Friday when they host Prairie View A&M at 7:00. The game will air on LHN.