Texas dominated a hopelessly overmatched North Dakota State squad that's rebuilding after losing the core of its NCAA Tournament team from a year ago, as the Longhorns jumped out to a 16-4 lead en route to an 85-50 win, their 13th straight victory in the season opener.
We saw Texas' entire 11-man rotation by halftime, including a terrific debut from freshman phenom Myles Turner, who hit his first three shots in impressive fashion, and scored 15 points on 6-8 shooting to go along with 6 boards in 20 minutes played. Jonathan Holmes hit two quick threes from his new position and finished with 15 points of his own, while Isaiah Taylor shook off a rough first half to deliver a brilliant final 20 minutes, slashing through defenders and showing off a nice outside stroke (2 of 4 from beyond the arc).
And we hit our free throws! 18 of 21 on the night will do just fine, including 3-4 from Demarcus Holland and 2-3 from Prince Ibeh. Yes, please.
The play of the game came midway through the first half on a brilliant sequence in which Myles Turner showed off his great timing to block a Bison shot, Isaiah Taylor snagged the loose ball and immediately zipped into transition, attacking deep into the lane before dropping a behind the back dime with his left hand to Cam Ridley, who was running the floor like he always does and got rewarded with the monster flush. The play highlighted some of the key strengths of those three players as perfectly as is imaginable. Absolutely delicious.
I'll check in with comprehensive individual notes later on. This... is your celebration thread. Hopefully the first of many.
Hook 'em!