The Horns outscored the Huskies 24-2 over the first six and a half minutes out of halftime.
AUSTIN, Texas — Star freshman Tre Johnson turned in another impressive performance, leading the No. 19 Texas Longhorns with 28 points as head coach Rodney Terry’s team used a big second-half run to pull away from the Houston Christian Huskies on Friday at the Moody Center in a 90-59 win.
Runs of 12-0 and 10-0 were part of a 24-2 surge out of halftime as the Longhorns blew out the Huskies over the first six and a half minutes of the second half to turn a 42-35 game at halftime into a blowout with the Texas lead reaching as many as 32 points.
In the second half, Texas limited Houston Christian to 25.9-percent shooting and forced 10 turnovers that turned into 15 points for the Horns, who scored 10 fast-break points after halftime.
Johnson was efficient in scoring his 28 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range, showcasing his immense talent in a workmanlike performance that looks like his standard even though he’s only two games into his collegiate career.
And unlike the loss to Ohio State, Johnson’s teammates around him played better, albeit against an overmatched opponent that ranks as one of the worst teams in Division I basketball. Five players other than Johnson scored in double digits, including 15 points from senior forward Arthur Kaluma on 7-of-10 shooting. Kaluma added nine rebounds and three assists in a strong performance from the Creighton and Kansas State transfer. Junior guard Chendall Weaver played an all-around game, scoring 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Johnson, Weaver, and Kaluma got Texas off to an improved start from beyond the arc, each hitting a three in the first several minutes of the game, but the Longhorns were also careless with the basketball, turning it over on the other two possessions early, eventually taking an 11-9 lead into the first media timeout with Houston Christian guard Bryson Dawkins scoring all nine points for the Huskies and coming up with both steals.
Senior forward Jayson Kent came off the bench to hit his own three as Texas made three straight baskets and appeared to be creating some separation until several sloppy offensive possessions and a made three by Houston Christian cut the deficit to 18-14 at the under-12 timeout.
By the next media timeout, the Longhorns hadn’t been able to create any separation despite starting 10-of-15 shooting (66.7 percent) in part because of five turnovers turned into 10 points by the Huskies.
A stretch of five straight made baskets by Texas, all layups and dunks, stretched the lead to eight points, causing Houston Christian head coach Craig Doty to use a timeout instead of waiting for the under-four timeout.
Texas did play well enough defensively to force two shot-clock violations late in the first half, but also struggled again with shooter recognition and giving up easy baskets inside.
When Johnson hit his second three of the game and the Huskies airballed a shot at the halftime buzzer, the Longhorns led 42-35 after shooting 63 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. But Texas had also allowed Houston Christian to shoot 38.5 percent from the field and take twice as many free throws as Terry’s team.
The Longhorns played most of the first half without junior starting point guard Jordan Pope, who was only able to play three minutes because he committed three fouls in that time.
Texas stepped up the defensive intensity to start the second half with senior forward Kadin Shedrick blocking two shots, leading to a three by Johnson and a layup by Weaver on a nice off-the-ball cut with Pope providing the delivery, prompting a timeout by Houston Christian with the lead up to 12 points, the game’s largest.
When Pope came up with a steal that led to a three by Johnson, the margin was 19 points and the Huskies were getting desperate as Doty called his penultimate timeout with 17:15 remaining, his second in 2:45 to start the second half as the Longhorns started the half with a 12-0 run.
Things were going so poorly for Houston Christian that the Huskies were called for two lane violations when Shedrick was on the line.
And because Doty had used the timeouts early in the half, he was less able to stop a 10-0 run by Texas that included four straight made field goals with the help of four forced turnovers that led to fast-break layups by Johnson and Weaver and a dunk by Shedrick that didn’t classify as transition because the ball got loose around the Texas basket for several seconds.
Texas ultimately started the second half on a 24-2 run as Houston Christian missed nine of its first 10 shots out of halftime, ensuring a drama-free second half for the Longhorns besides Kent taking a knock and leaving the game briefly.
Texas did get some playing time for freshman forward Jamie Vinson, who quickly scored his first collegiate basket on a post play, but the reserves didn’t see as much action as they might have if the Longhorns weren’t integrating so many many new players.
In that regard, seeing Pope score nine of his 11 points in the lasts six and a half minutes was a positive development for a player who struggled through his first game and a half with the Horns.
Texas returns to the Moody Center on Tuesday when it hosts Chicago State.