After taking down Northern Arizona 73-48 in the first leg of the Leon Black Classic on Monday behind graduate guard Marcus Carr’s 17-point performance, No. 4 Texas took on UTRGV in Gregory Gym on Saturday. Here are five takeaways from the Longhorns’ throwback game in the historic gymnasium:

Tyrese Hunter and Marcus Carr continue to lead the Longhorns

Sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter and Carr helped lead Texas to a win on Saturday, combining for 35 points in the win. To start the game, Hunter went on a 7-0 run by himself, getting the Longhorns off to a quick lead.

Head coach Chris Beard has done well to stagger the duo’s minutes so that one of the two facilitators is on the floor at all times.

The guards have both finished with double digit scoring totals and finished among Texas’ top three scorers in each game so far this season.

Hunter leads the team with 16.2 points per game, with Carr right behind him with 14.8.

In addition to Hunter and Carr, the Longhorns finished with two other players in double digits, including graduate guard Sir’Jabari Rice, who led the team with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

Texas made UTRGV pay for its mistakes

Defense has been one of the main calling cards of Beard’s teams over his coaching career, and that has continued in his second year at Texas. The Longhorns have forced 19 or more turnovers in every game so far this season, and that didn’t change on Saturday. The Vaqueros turned the ball over 22 times, which the Longhorns turned into 28 points.

Turning defense into offense continues to be a key factor in Texas’ success.

“Our best offense we had tonight was our defense,” Beard said.

Dillon Mitchell’s athleticism was on full display

Freshman forward Dillon Mitchell, the No. 5 player in the 2022 class, is 6-feet-8-inches tall and can soar above the rim. One thing the Longhorns were missing last season was a high-flying forward. In previous years, Texas featured forwards Kai Jones and Jericho Sims as constant lob threats.

This year, Mitchell fills that role. Throughout the season, he has gotten the crowd on its feet with strong slams. Against UTRGV, Mitchell dunked the ball three times and used his athleticism to crash the glass as well, ending the game with four rebounds.

Timmy Allen struggled to find his shot

After averaging 12.1 points per game last season, senior forward Timmy Allen has struggled to score. The Mesa, Arizona product has yet to reach 12 points in a game this year.

Allen finished with two points on 25% shooting before fouling out with 4:34 to go on Saturday.

Texas has won each game by 15 or more points, so the team hasn’t needed much production out of Allen, but games down the stretch will be more competitive and his services will be needed.

Texas suffered a couple of scoring droughts

It’s hard to find much wrong when a team wins by 37 points, but scoring droughts that span multiple minutes could prove fatal in closer matchups.

The Longhorns had two such droughts in the first half, but Texas also forced the Vaqueros into some droughts of their own.

The Longhorns’ next two games come against ranked opponents. The first will be against No. 10 Creighton in the Moody Center for the Big 12-Big East Battle on Dec. 1, and the second will be against No. 16 Illinois in Madison Square Garden for the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 6.

“We understand who we’re about to play, a couple of the best teams in college basketball,” Beard said. “We basically got two Big 12 games coming up, that’s the way I describe it to our team.”