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No. 10 Texas crushes North Dakota State

Nov 15, 2014 - 1:35 PM Austin, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Isaiah Taylor finished with a game-high 18 points as 10th-ranked Texas defeated North Dakota State, 85-50, in the 2K Sports Classic on Friday.

Myles Turner scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, Jonathan Holmes had 15 points and six rebounds and Cameron Ridley and Javan Felix each scored nine points apiece for the Longhorns (1-0), who won their 13th straight season opener.

"There were some good things," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We played around with a couple of different lineups and did some things that we wanted to do."

Texas, which is ranked for the first time since the 2009-10 season, benefited from having all five starters return after losing to Michigan in the third round of last season's NCAA Tournament.

Lawrence Alexander had 16 points and three steals and Kory Brown contributed 10 points for North Dakota State (0-1), which defeated Oklahoma in overtime during the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by San Diego State.

"Obviously, we ran into a team that was far superior to us tonight," North Dakota State coach David Richman admitted.

Holmes drained consecutive triples as Texas started out on an 8-0 run. After Brown's free throw gave the Bison their first point, Turner knocked down two jumpers around a Felix layup for a 14-1 Texas lead over five minutes in.

DeMarcus Holland's 3-pointer increased the Longhorns' lead to 24 points, making it a 31-7 game with 5:02 left in the first half. Alexander hit a last- second trey, but Texas took a 38-18 lead into halftime.

Connor Lammert and Taylor hit consecutive triples and Turner made a pair of free throws to give Texas a 52-22 lead with 15:02 remaining. Texas' lead swelled to 39 points after Holmes' layup made it an 82-43 game.

Game Notes

The two programs faced one another for the first time ... Texas improved to 15-2 in season openers under head coach Rick Barnes ... The Bison shot 17- of-62 (27.4 percent), while the Longhorns made 30-of-62 shots (48.4 percent).