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Longhorns fend off Texas-Arlington

Dec 3, 2014 - 5:36 AM Austin, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Myles Turner scored 14 of his 18 points at the free throw line, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked five shots in No. 6 Texas' 63-53 win over Texas-Arlington.

Turner shot just 2-of-10 from the field, but he got to the line 17 times to make the Mavericks pay for their fouls.

Jonathan Holmes led the Longhorns with 16 rebounds, and he also chipped in nine points.

Texas (7-0) out-rebounded its in-state foe, 52-25.

Jamel Outler and Greg Gainey each scored nine points to lead the Mavericks (3-4). Johnny Hill had five points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Longhorns' presence down low influenced the game. In addition to the huge rebounding edge that included 28 on the offensive end, Texas blocked 13 shots.

"This is one of the best Texas teams I've seen," said Mavericks head coach Scott Cross. "Obviously beating the national champion defending team the other night shows what they have."

In the second half, UT-Arlington hung in the game, getting as close as three when Lonnie McClanahan made jumpers on back-to-back possessions with 12:51 left.

Texas was always able to maintain a solid lead, though, despite poor shooting. The Longhorns were just 7-of-29 from the field and 1-of-11 from long distance after the break. Turner took all 11 shots from the charity stripe for Texas in the second half, making nine of them.

"It's something I can contribute to the team," said Turner. "Some teams are going to continue to foul the big men expecting us not to be able to knock them down. It's something I work on every day in practice."

UT-Arlington got off to a quick start against the favored Longhorns. Kevin Hervey scored five points in two minutes to lead an 8-0 Mavericks run that broke a 7-7 tie, but Texas chipped away.

With 8:46 left in the first half, the game was tied at 20. The Longhorns embarked on a 19-8 run with balanced scoring to close the half with a 39-28 lead. Turner knocked down five free throws during the run.

Game Notes

Texas owns a 10-0 record in the all-time series between these two teams ... Longhorns coach Rick Barnes is 141-21 against in-state opponents with Texas ... Texas has blocked seven or more shots in five straight games ... McClanahan's streak of five games with double digit points was snapped with eight ... Texas travels to No. 1 Kentucky Friday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge ... UTA returns home Saturday to play Weber State.