Texas caps day meant to encourage student involvement with 73-57 win over Sam Houston State
Texas men’s basketball head coach Chris Beard started building relationships as soon as he arrived on the Forty Acres. His “Unite the Family” mantra was intended to include a variety of groups, from lettermen, to former coaches, to fans of the Longhorn program.
Another significant group he sought to bring in was the Texas student body. Beard made good on a preseason promise to students that he would throw a party in front of the UT tower ahead of a (mostly) student-only game at Gregory Gymnasium.
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He brought food trucks to the tower plaza. He made sure beer was available for purchase, too.
“It was fun over there,” Beard said. “There’s some energy. There wasn’t just guys standing in line and girls trying to get a free meal at the food truck. There was some energy over there. You kind of felt like there was a basketball game tonight.”
He booked Austin hip-hop group Blackillac, who he saw at an outing on South Congress earlier in the year, to perform for those who planned to attend the game.
“Those guys are pretty good,” he said.
He spoke to the students…
Then led them to Gregory Gym…
There, his team kept another promise it made in the preseason to play hard. That they did, topping the Sam Houston State Bearkats, 73-57, in the process.
Officially, 2834 settled into the 91-year-old building. When Beard walked the sidelines, he wore special Air Force 1’s commemorating Texas’ history at 2101 Speedway.
The Longhorns hadn’t played a regular season game at Gregory Gym since a 90-51 win over Rice on February 22, 1977.
On November 29, 2021, the Longhorns extended their regular season winning streak in its former home to two.
Marcus Carr led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three. Courtney Ramey added 14 points, as did Andrew Jones. Timmy Allen contributed 12 points, five rebounds, seven assists, a block, and a steal.
The crowd was into the game early, but so were the Bearkats. SHSU forced Texas to take a timeout on its very first possession and kept the game within single digits for much of the first half.
But with 3:13 left in opening 20 minutes, Texas started a run. Carr hit a three-pointer, then another bucket to make it a five point game. Jones made a basket, then Carr nailed another three with just over 30 seconds left to give Texas a 10-point lead heading into halftime.
Students were heavily involved in the game during the first half. Often, they were spurred on by requests from Beard on the sidelines and the rest of the Longhorns. At other times, the play on the floor got the majority student crowd into the action.
The 10-0 run made ears ring as a result of the energy provided by those in the current UT RecSports facility.
“It was extremely loud,” Carr said. “There was points where you couldn’t hear yourself. I’m kind of egging them on to make some noise. I’m like ‘that’s pretty loud right there.’ It was definitely fun and one of the best environments I’ve been in in my collegiate career so far. Definitely fun to play here tonight.”
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A 9-0 run midway through the second half extended Texas’ lead to 17. The Longhorns would bump it all the way up to 20 at one point, with SHSU never making the margin smaller than 14.
The game was a successful venture for the program, and as he had for games at the Erwin Center, Beard invited students to the floor to sing the Eyes of Texas.
Carr hopes the success from Monday’s contest carries over for the next home game at the Erwin Center. And the next one. And the one after that.
“Let’s keep building it,” Carr said. “I want to see the students there on Friday. We’re going to keep playing hard, keep playing for them, and keep playing for each other. We’re looking to build this thing to where we have one of the best homecourt advantages in the Big 12 and in the country.”
Beard understands there is a reciprocal relationship between the team and members of all ages of the fan base, students specifically. He can’t throw a “darty,” a word that tickled Beard, at the tower for every home game to get students there.
Logistical issues associated with playing in a 91-year-old building owned by the university and not the athletic department make these types of on-campus events one-offs.
But to get the students involved and to the Erwin Center, he understands the requirement of putting a good product on the floor. Sometimes other things can accompany it, but it starts and ends with wins in exciting basketball games. He put an entertaining win on display in front of almost 3000 students on Monday.
“I just think one of the biggest words is expectations and our expectations internally are really, really high,” Beard said. “We believe that we can create a basketball homecourt advantage here, but it takes a lot of time, and work, and relationships. We have to deliver.”
Their next chance to deliver will be in front of a crowd composed of students and non-students alike. But Beard made his message known ahead of Texas remaining home schedule of 14 games.
“The message to the students is thank you and come check out the Erwin Center,” Beard said. “We can have the same situation, I promise.”
