Nov. 16, 2007

Final Stats

AUSTIN, Texas - No. 16 Texas defeated UC Davis, 73-42, Friday evening at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns broke open a tight game at the half by outscoring the Aggies, 38-13, in the second half. A.J. Abrams led all scorers with 21 points. Shane Hanson topped UC Davis with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Kyle Brucculeri also made two treys and finished with nine points. Vince Oliver and David Carter each scored seven. Texas entered the game ranked No. 16 in both major polls.

UC Davis played a strong first half and held the lead for the first 4:14 of the game. Hanson opened the game with a trey on the Aggies' first possession. Texas gained its first lead at the 15:46 mark on a layup by D.J. Augustin. That started a 14-4 run that put the Longhorns up 22-13 with 9:27 left in the half. Augustin finished with 10 point and 11 assists.

The Aggies would keep pace with a 6-0 burst from three-pointers by Dominic Calegari and Brucculeri, which cut the deficit to 22-19 with just under seven minutes left in the half. Brucculeri hit another trey to make it 26-22 before the Longhorns upped the margin to eight.

With two minutes left in the half, a Hanson three-pointer pulled UC Davis within 32-29 before an Augustin trey in the next possession accounted for the final scoring of the half. Texas would lead 35-29 heading into the second half.

UC Davis shot 43 percent in the first half with six of its nine field goals coming from beyond the arc. In the second half, Texas would hold the Aggies to just 4-of-22 from the field.

Texas upped its lead to 11 in the first three minutes of the second half before UC Davis went on a 4-0 run with free throws by Hanson and Brucculeri. With 14:55 left in the game, Texas led 42-35 and closed the game on a 31-7 run. A Hanson jumper at the 7:55 mark made it 57-42 before the Longhorns scored the final 16 points of the night.

"We did some good things tonight. I felt like we did a much better job on the backboard and had a high level of competitiveness," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "We struggled to consistently control the tempo, and you have to give Texas credit. They're one of the better transition teams in the country."

Texas shot 55 percent from the field, including 59 percent in the second half. The Longhorns outrebounded UC Davis, 30-24. The Aggies had 16 turnovers compared to just six for the Longhorns.

Seven of the Aggies' 13 field goals for the game were three-pointers. UC Davis also went 9-of-14 from the line. Brucculeri, Hanson and Calegari each hauled in four rebounds. Mark Payne led the Aggies with five assists.

Connor Atchley was the third Longhorn in double figures with 11 points. Damion James led the game with 12 rebounds.

UC Davis returns home to face UC Santa Cruz Sunday at 4 p.m. at The Pavilion. It'll mark the fourth game in eight days for the Aggies.