Texas and fabulous freshman guard Tre Johnson continue a three-game homestand against mid-major teams when it squares off against Chicago State on Tuesday in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns bounced back from a season-opening loss to Ohio State in Las Vegas with an empathic 90-59 home win over Houston Christian on Friday. Johnson led the way for Texas with 28 points and now has racked up a combined 57 points in his first two collegiate games.
Texas (1-1) never trailed against Houston Christian. The Longhorns were up by seven at halftime but roared out of the break, scoring the first 12 points of the second half as part of a 24-2 run to begin the second half. Johnson hit two 3-pointers and had 10 points in that pivotal spurt while Texas’ defense held the visitors to 2-of-12 shooting over the first nine minutes of the half and won its 23rd consecutive home-opening game.
“We were able to get out and play to our strengths, which is to get out, play fast in transition, put pressure on the basket and let our guys get a chance to play a little bit in open space,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said afterward.
Arthur Kaluma added 15 points, Chendall Weaver had 12, Jordan Pope scored 11, and Kadin Shedrick and Jayson Kent hit for 10 points each for the Longhorns
in Friday’s victory. Texas is still without guard Tramon Mark, who has missed the first two games with an ankle injury and has no specific timeline for a return.
Johnson continues to wow, as expected for the presumptive one-and-done guard. He said the team’s intense summer workouts have helped him adapt quickly to the college game.
“I feel like my adjustments have mainly been in practice, working against other good players, older players,” Johnson said. “It’s just been playing off my teammates, letting it come to me, and shooting the open shot.”
Johnson is 21 of 38 from the floor and 10 of 18 from 3-point range over his first two games. By comparison, former Texas one-and-done player Kevin Durant scored 20 and 21 points, respectively, in his first two collegiate contests.
“Tre is one of those guys that I think every game, every day, he’s just getting better and better,” Terry explained. “It’s really about developing a pro mentality.”
Chicago State (0-2) heads to Austin after an 80-60 loss at home to Youngstown State on Saturday. The Cougars, who play in the Northeast Conference after two seasons as an independent, dropped their season opener 79-72 at Loyola Chicago on Nov. 4.
Gabe Spinelli led Chicago State with 15 points in Saturday’s setback while Jalen Forrest had 11 and Saxby Sunderland and Cam Jernigan added 10 points each.
The Cougars were within a point of the lead after a back-and-forth first 28 minutes before surrendering a 15-2 run to Youngstown that all but decided the game.
Chicago State, coached by Scott Spinelli in his first season at the school, was picked in the preseason poll to finish sixth of nine teams in the Northeastern Conference.
In the teams’ only previous meeting, Texas won 92-66 at home in November 2006.
–Field Level Media
