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Texas overcomes slow start, defeats Texas-San Antonio

Nov 13, 2007 - 4:49 AM AUSTIN, Texas (Ticker) -- The post-Kevin Durant era got off to a slow start for Texas, but a big second half helped the Longhorns pull away in their season opener.

Sophomore D.J. Augustin scored 19 points and No. 16 Texas scored 13 consecutive points midway through the second half en route to a 58-37 victory over Texas-San Antonio on Monday.

Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds as Texas scored 81.7 points per game last season en route to its ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

But the Longhorns only held a 22-19 lead at the half and early on appeared to miss last season's Wooden Award winner, shooting just 33 percent (8-of-24) in the first half.

"We tried to play hard on both games on the floor," Augustin said. "Tonight, our offense didn't do so well, so we tried to take it over on the defense."

However, Texas turned a 28-25 lead into a 16-point advantage with 9:10 left, holding the Roadrunners scoreless for over five minutes, and was never threatened the rest of the way.

"We were better in the second half where we did a better job rebounding and adjusting to awkward shots," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "Offensively is where we got hurt in the first half. We missed layups and had turnovers.

"We didn't execute our ball screen, but games like these help you, and we can learn a lot from the way the played tonight."

Augustin was the forgotten freshman for the Longhorns last season, playing in all 35 games and averaging 14.4 points and 6.7 assists per game. The 5-11 guard supplied most of the offense in the first half, netting 10 of Texas' 22 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Junior A.J. Abrams - who set a Big 12 Conference record by making 120 3-pointers last season - did not score until under eight minutes left in the game, but still finished with 11 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the arc.

"I got some looks, I just didn't knock the shots down," Abrams said. "Everyone did a good job of picking up my slack in the first half and fortunately for me, I got it going late in the second half."

Devin Gibson scored 13 points to lead the Roadrunners (1-1), who shot 25 percent (11-of-44) for the game.

"I think in the first 20 minutes, we executed our game plan exactly how we wanted to do it," Texas-San Antonio coach Brooks Thompson said. "I think from a standpoint of what our young men did and what we were dealt with in our injuries and things like that, I can't say anything but very positive things about our basketball team."