No. 7 Texas will seek to build on its three-game winning streak and remain perfect at home when it opposes surging Louisiana on Wednesday night in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (9-1) held onto the seventh spot in the Associated Press rankings after winning their two most recent games, including 72-62 over Stanford in Dallas on Sunday as part of the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge.
Marcus Carr scored 17 points and Timmy Allen added 15 and had a key block in the final minute to help Texas hang on for the win. The Longhorns led by 16 points midway through the second half before Stanford roared back to within three with 6:27 remaining.
A layup by Allen and two baskets by Carr, the last with 3:50 to play, pushed the Longhorns’ advantage to eight points. Stanford never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Sir’Jabari Rice added 15 points for the Longhorns, who forced Stanford into a season-high 18 turnovers. Texas, which is 7-0 at home, has forced at least 17 turnovers in nine of its first 10 contests.
Texas was playing its second game without coach Chris Beard, who was suspended indefinitely without pay on Dec. 12 after being arrested and charged with felony domestic assault. Associate head coach Rodney Terry served as acting head coach for the second straight contest for the Longhorns.
Players have not been made available to the media since Beard’s arrest.
“Every day in that locker room over there, myself included, we’re all family,” Terry said after the Sunday win. “But you control what you can control right now at this time, and that’s putting these guys in the best position to be successful and, you know, keeping them having a great competitive experience.
“Right now we’re defending our culture in terms of how hard we play, what the standards are every day.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns (10-1) will head to Austin after a 78-70 win over McNeese on Thursday in Lake Charles, La. Jordan Brown put up a team-high 20 points to lead four Louisiana players in double figures. The Ragin’ Cajuns shot 57.1 percent from the floor, the third straight game they made at least half of their field-goal attempts.
McNeese clawed within one point midway through the second half before Brown completed a three-point play, beginning a pivotal 10-2 run that helped Louisiana post the win.
“We stayed cool, calm and collected the whole time, even when the game got close,” Brown said. “We just locked in. We’ve faced adversity before. We just did what we worked on and what we know how to do.”
Greg Williams Jr. scored 17 points, sinking a season-high five 3-pointers, while Terence Lewis II added 16 points and Themus Fulks had 10 as Louisiana equaled its best start since 1990-91.
The Ragin’ Cajuns have won five straight games since their only loss of the year, 76-64 at Drake on Nov. 26.
Texas and Louisiana have met four times, with each team winning twice. The Longhorns posted an 82-48 victory in Austin on Nov. 20, 1999, in the most recent contest between the programs.
–Field Level Media
