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Cameron Ridley posted 22 points and grabbed 10 boards, as Texas beat Texas State by 32. Isaiah Taylor scored 15 points and dropped eight dimes, while Javan Felix hit four three pointers in the rout.
The men from San Marcos held with the Horns for most of the first half -- with three minutes remaining in the first period the score was 25-22 Texas -- but from that point on Rick Barnes' crew stepped on the gas and never looked back. The game was more or less put away by the under-16 time out in the second half.
Texas coasted to an easy win going inside to Cameron Ridley. The sophomore center was 8-10 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line. And Ridley wasn't the only Longhorn having abnormal success from the stripe; Rick Barnes' squad was 25-35 on free throw attempts, with Isaiah Taylor sinking 7-11.
The Bobcats were over-matched, and they didn't help themselves with 17 turnovers. Joel Wright, with 19 points, was the only member of Danny Kaspar's squad to reach double figures. He needed 17 shots and five free throws to do it. Efficiency, thy name is not scoring 19 points in 25 possessions (Wright also turned the ball over six times).
On a night where most Longhorn fans couldn't be blamed for being distracted, the crowd at the Erwin Center was... a bit light.
UT has shattered (low) expectations, is sitting at 8-1 & this is the crowd. I know it's TXST, but this is pathetic. pic.twitter.com/gVyGDXARsb
— Ryan Clark (@LonghornRdTrip) December 15, 2013
Perhaps everyone was out at holiday parties.
The Longhorns go on the road to face North Carolina, before playing Michigan State in the Erwin Center next Saturday. Things are about to get more interesting.