Wolverines down Longhorns 59-52

Mo Bamba records another double-double in loss to Wolverines

The Texas Longhorns (6-3) couldn’t overcome a sloppy first half of play on Tuesday night, losing to the Michigan Wolverines (9-3) 59-52 at the Frank Erwin Center.  In the absence of team-leading scorer Andrew Jones, who is out with a fractured wrist, the team needed others to step-up and fill the role on offense.

Michigan led 32-20 after the first half of play, with Texas shooting just 30.4% from the field compared to Michigan’s 51.9%  The Longhorns had plenty of opportunities in the second half to close in on the Wolverines, but Michigan would make shots when needed. Texas couldn’t reciprocate.

Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski went 6-11 from the field, leading the Longhorns in scoring with 17 points.  13 of Osetkowski’s points came in the second half.  The Tulane transfer also grabbed 5 rebounds.  Mo Bamba notched his third double-double of the season with a 10-point, 10-rebound effort and four rebounds. Kerwin Roach reached double digits in scoring with 10 points, including 5 rebounds.

Michigan had four starters reach double digits in scoring, with Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman leading the way in the win with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

When the game was over, Texas shot 36.5% from the floor and 25% from three-point range.

Texas coach Shaka Smart realizes his team and his coaching staff must do a better job of executing on the court.

“I think that the things that we didn’t do, in terms of following our plan, that stuff needs to be exposed on film and that stuff needs to be hammered hard. Because regardless of the opponent, the stuff we planned and worked to do in practice, that has to be carried over into the game. That could be different from game to game, but our willingness to go and execute that stuff, through whatever happens, must be better. With young guys like some of our freshmen, young guys that haven’t played a lot, it’s certainly understandable that that might affect them, but it’s not acceptable. There’s a difference between those two things and we have to understand that to whom much is given, when there’s an opportunity, much is expected, of all of us. And it starts with me.”

With the loss, Texas fell to 2-5 all-time against Michigan.

Texas will next face Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 1:00 PM in Austin.