For the first point of the game, graduate forward Kadin Shedrick stood on the free-throw line for Texas after two minutes of play and shot the ball in the net.
The rest of the game looked very similar to the first point. In the first meeting ever between Mississippi Valley State and Texas, Mississippi Valley put Texas on the free throw line 36 times in an 89-43 win for Texas.
The game was a tale of two halves for Texas.
Although they had some good looks, Texas struggled to find the net in the first half, making only eight of 18 field goals.
“You just have to continue to work the game,” head coach Rodney Terry said. “When you’re not making shots, you got to still come back down to the end and go at a high level.”
Mississippi Valley State played a zone defense, which the Longhorns have only faced in practice so far this season.
The Delta Devils forced the Longhorns to push their way toward the net, trying to find the open space in the middle. Graduate guard Julian Larry lept backward in the air to get the ball in the net for one of the three field goals he made in the first half. Shedrick bodied his way to the net before dunking the ball on his way to 12 points.
However, the Longhorns also didn’t allow the Delta Devils to get ahead, leading at the half 33-23.
“Some of our shots might fall out early on and that dictated our defense,” senior forward Arthur Kaluma said. “We have to really stay connected on the defensive end. We know our offense is going to come. We’re full of talented players.”
Defensively, the Longhorns stayed strong, especially when rebounding. Shedrick and Kaluma led the team with seven rebounds each.
“Whenever that ball goes up, I always feel like it’s mine and I’m crashing almost every single time,” Kaluma said. “(Terry’s) been on me about that a lot.”
When the Longhorns came out for the second half, they were ready to get going offensively. Freshman guard Tre Johnson picked up his game, getting the crowd going with a triple early on.
“Tre’s not the kind of guy to go out there and hunt shots and take bad shots,” Terry said. “He’s going to let the game come to him and I think he’s done a really nice job of that to start the season.”
The Longhorns scored 56 points in the second half alone and were able to put in their players who don’t get as much time on the court, including sophomore forward Devon Pryor and freshman forward Jamie Vinson.
Texas will be looking to continue its success away from home, traveling to New York to play in the UKG Legends Classic next week.
“I really want our defense to try to travel,” Terry said. “When we sit down and guard and have really good one-on-one defense and team defense, we’re able to get some separation.”
