Sir'Jabari Rice discusses how Texas stuck together through adversity to advance to Round of 32

Texas knew it would have its hands full Thursday night against a sharp-shooting Colgate team. The Longhorns did their part to defeat the Raiders and move on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Fueled by 23 points off the bench from Sir’Jabari Rice, Texas defeated Colgate 81-61 in the round of 64. But the Longhorns’ defense stole the show, holding the Raiders to just three made three-point attempts in the game. To put that in perspective, Colgate entered Thursday’s game averaging 8.3 made threes per game.

As it turns out, though, the Longhorns did a better job than expected as it locked down the perimeter.

“Our goal was six or less, to hold them under,” Rice told TBS’ Allie LaForce. “We knew 33 [Oliver Lynch-Daniels], if he gets it going, he’s the best three-point shooter in the country. We just did a good job game-planning, we trusted the game plan and it worked.”

Although Texas won the game by 20, it wasn’t always easy. Colgate clawed its way back into the game during the second half and got as close as seven points early in the second half. But the Longhorns clamped down and got the offense going to create some separation to get the win.

Rice pointed out those rough patches, but credited his teammates for battling through it all.

“I’m just happy and blessed to get this win,” Rice said. “My team, we fought hard. We overcame adversity. That team is really good. We stuck together, and I’m just happy we got the win for the fans. Hopefully, we can get another one Saturday.”

Now, Texas will turn its attention to the winner of Texas A&M vs. Penn State, which tips off at 10:15 p.m. ET Thursday night.

Inside the box score: Texas defeats Colgate in NCAA Tournament opener

Rice scored a game-high 23 points off the bench while Dylan Disu and Marcus Carr dropped 17 apiece to help lead Texas to the victory to kick off the tournament. As a team, the Longhorns shot 53.4% from the field, including a 13-for-23 showing from beyond the three-point line. Rice went 7-for-10 from downtown on his own.

Texas was able to capitalize on that success on offense and turned it into defense. Colgate only took 15 three-point attempts as it shot 41.1% from the floor. Keegan Records and Ryan Moffatt led the Raiders in scoring with 13 points apiece.