Rapid Recap: No. 18 Longhorns cruise past UIW in season opener with transfer-led effort
Thanks to great performances from transfers Kadin Shedrick, Ithiel Horton, Ze’Rik Onyema, and Max Abmas in their Texas debuts, plus a 33-5 UT run in the first half, the No. 18 Longhorns cruised past Incarnate Word 88-56 in their season opening contest. Texas head coach Rodney Terry won his first game as permanent head coach and improved to 23-8 as the leader of the Longhorns program dating back to his time as acting and interim head coach last season.
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Horton, a transfer who came to Texas by way of UCF, led the Longhorns in scoring with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three.
Shedrick, a transfer from Virginia, was cleared for full-court action last week after offseason shoulder surgery. Limited in the minutes he can play due to conditioning, Shedrick scored 12 points in 11 minutes on 3-of-3 shooting. He also was 6-of-7 from the line and pulled down five rebounds.
Abmas, a three-time honorable mention All-American from Oral Roberts and the NCAA’s active career leader in scoring, scored 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
Onyema, a transfer from UTEP who began his career playing for Terry when he was head coach of the Miners, scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting. He also brought down seven rebounds in a start for Texas.
The Longhorns levied athletic advantages on both ends of the floor, mostly in the first half, against a team that was 12-19 last season. Texas forced the Cardinals to commit 17 turnovers and scored 23 points off those turnovers. Texas also added 29 fast break points off those chances. UIW could only shoot 30 percent from the field in the game, including a dismal 21 percent on 7-of-34 shooting in the first half.
Texas shot 51 percent for the game and 38 percent from three-point land. In addition to the four transfers, Tyrese Hunter was in double figures with 11 points and four assists paired with four turnovers.
After winning the first half 48-17, Texas won the second half by a slimmer 40-39 margin.
The Longhorns were a team featuring five transfers who made their UT debuts on Monday, including Shedrick, Horton, Abmas, Onyema, and Chendall Weaver.
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Horton, Abmas, and Onyema started, joined by returners Hunter and Dillon Mitchell.
After trailing 6-5 early in the contest, the Longhorns went on a 21-0 run featuring buckets by Onyema, Hunter, Abmas, Horton, Mitchell, Shedrick, and Weaver. UIW scored five points to break the run, but Texas would go on another 12-0 run right after.
Every Longhorn who appeared in the first half made a field goal, part of a 55-percent effort from the field in the first 20 minutes.
7:39 passed before the first media timeout. The Longhorns held the Cardinals to 3-of-15 shooting during that time. UIW would go scoreless from the 15:21 mark to the 9:23 point until Josh Morgan hit a three to end the lengthy drought.
Sky Wicks led the Cardinals in scoring Monday night with 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting. TJ Ford Jr., son of Texas Longhorns great TJ Ford, played 11 minutes for the Cardinals and added five points
Terry was assessed a technical foul in his first game as permanent head coach of the Longhorns.
The Longhorns are set to host Delaware State on Friday in another non-conference game. The tip time is set for 8 p.m. and Longhorn Network will televise the game.
