Texas blasts Chicago State, 104-58, behind 19 points from Tre Johnson

The Horns got off to a fast start and never slowed down in an easy victory against the Cougars.

AUSTIN, Texas — After dropping out of the AP Top 25 poll over the weekend, the Texas Longhorns returned to the Moody Center on Tuesday, handling business against the Chicago State Cougars in a 105-58 victory, ensuring that the game was never in doubt with a 12-0 run to open the contest.

Freshman guard Tre Johnson, as he has through his first three games, led the Longhorns in scoring with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 shooting from three, with the only minor blemish two turnovers even as he played a strong all-around game once again.

Five total players scored in double digits, including 18 points from senior forward Ze’Rik Onyema, his high point total at Texas and one off his career high set at UTEP. Senior forward Arthur Kaluma added 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

It was an efficient performance overall for the Longhorns against a poor opponent — Texas shot 57.1 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three, and attempted 33 free throws, hitting at 72.7 percent. The Horns got out in transition, too, scoring 18 fast-break points with 19 points on 12 turnovers by the Cougars.

Defensively, Texas held Chicago State to 29.7-percent shooting as the Cougars played without two returning starters due to injury.

Texas started the game off with clear intent — to work the ball into senior forward Kadin Shedrick in the post with Shedrick drawing two shooting fouls and splitting both trips to the line before Kaluma found him for a dunk on the third possession.

“Especially in the first play of the game, we tried to attack, getting the ball inside. We know we have a size advantage against Chicago State today and that we want to get a lot of paint touches and an easy way to do that is just to get the ball in the post,” Shedrick said after the game.

“I’m a willing passer, so I’ll get back out if I have to and I think we play well when we do that — getting the ball inside.”

Junior guard Chendall Weaver followed with a corner three assisted by freshman guard Tre Johnson, forcing a 30-second timeout by Chicago State head coach Scott Spinelli down 7- 0 with 18:21 remaining with the hopes of settling his team down.

It worked to the extent that Weaver missed a contested shot at the rim following a missed three by the Cougars, but Johnson hit a three on the next offensive possession by the Horns, who kept getting stops defensively.

Chicago State was able to break up a lob from Kaluma intended for Shedrick and block the follow-up attempt by Weaver, Johnson took the in-bounds pass and worked his way into a mid-range basket before the Cougars finally got on the board by getting into the paint twice.

Against a full-court press by Chicago State, Texas broke it quickly, leading to a layup by Kaluma through contact and a chance at a three-point play on the other side of the under-16 timeout up 14-4.

Kaluma converted before Johnson flashed some of his impressive all-around game — when a Chicago State player tried to back him down on the block, Johnson held his position, walled up, secured the rebound after forcing the miss, then drew a foul trying to get out in transition.

On the other end, Johnson lost control of the ball with his left hand trying to throw an ill-advised lob after a jump stop in the lane, but instead of letting his frustration win, he hustled down the court, forcing a Cougars player to double clutch what was initially intended as a shot attempt, throwing the ball out of bounds instead.

“He’s a competitor. He wants to win. He’s not caught up in trying to worry about scoring — scoring comes easy to him, but he’s working on his defense, he’s working on trying to be a complete player, playing on both ends of the floor, making decisions with the ball,” said Texas head coach Rodney Terry.

Meanwhile, the Longhorns were extending their lead, reaching 20-4 at the under-12 timeout thanks to playing turnover-free basketball on offense, hitting 3-of-6 three-point attempts, and holding Chicago State to 2-of-11 shooting while forcing five turnovers. Arguably the best thing the Cougars were doing offensively through the first eight minutes was committing dead-ball turnovers.

Texas showed some nice flashes in transition when senior forward Jayson Kent, who secured a defensive rebound, successfully navigated some initial traffic into the open court, and dribbled into the lane before throwing a lob to Kaluma, who threw it down with authority.

Shortly thereafter, senior guard Julian Larry got out in transition for a layup.

A layup by Kent on an assist by junior guard Jordan Pope forced a second first-half timeout by Spinelli down 28-6 with 9:06 remaining, but it didn’t keep Pope from securing a rebound and rewarding Shedrick for running the floor with a dunk through contact and a conversion of the three-point play.

The best highlight-reel moment for the Longhorns in the first half came after a relatively-unforced miscue by the Cougars that resulted in Pope leaving the ball off the backboard for Johnson to dunk.

Getting on Tre Johnson’s highlight reel — a respectable longterm business decision by Pope in addition to an unselfish play in the moment.

By the end of the first half, Texas was up 50-18 after shooting 52.9-percent from the field and 10-of-14 from the free-throw line while holding Chicago State to 21.2-percent shooting, although the Cougars were able to slow down their turnover rate as they settled into the game.

The second half provided few notable moments beyond the season debut of sophomore forward Devon Pryor, who missed the first two games with an ankle injury, and Texas working on some changeup zone defenses. Of course, maintaining some intensity is key for the coaching staff, too, and the Longhorns remained invested enough to go on a 17-2 run by forcing a scoring drought for the Cougars even as Texas played zone.

Some different personnel groupings got some time together, including freshman forward Jamie Vinson with Kent and Onyema.

Texas returns to the Moody Center against Mississippi Valley State at 4 p.m. Central on Saturday.