No. 5 Texas gets Beard first win, 92-48 over Houston Baptist

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tre Mitchell scored 13 points and No. 5 Texas earned new coach Chris Beard his first win the Longhorns with a season-opening 92-48 victory over Houston Baptist on Tuesday night.

Beard came from Texas Tech, where he led the Red Raiders to the NCAA Tournament final in 2019. He immediately dove into the NCAA transfer portal to bring as much talent as he could find and what he landed quickly built big expectations. Texas’ No. 5 ranking to start the season is the program’s highest since the Longhorns were No. 3 to start the 2009-10 season.

The transfers made an immediate impact.

Point guard Marcus Carr, a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season at Minnesota, scored eight of Texas’ first 18 points and had five assists. Forward Timmy Allen, who was all-Pac-12 last season at Utah, scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds. Mitchell, first-team all conference in the Atlantic 10 last season, did most of his scoring in the second half.

But Texas’ returning players aren’t forgotten. Far from it. They’re still a big part of Beard’s roster rebuild. Senior guards Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones each scored 11 points and combined for six of Texas’ 3 pointers.

Texas led 43-27 lead at halftime. Jones opened the second half with a 3-pointer, then had a steal for a fast-break layup. Consecutive 3-pointers from Ramey made it 54-29 and quickly turned the game into a blowout. Texas shot 64%.

Za-Ontay Boothman scored 12 points for Houston Baptist.

Dispatching Houston Baptist is one thing. A much bigger test awaits: The Longhorns play Saturday at No. 1 Gonzaga, which lost to Baylor in last season’s NCAA Tournament final.

STILL WAITING

One of Texas’ big transfers isn’t yet ready to play. Forward Dylan Disu from Vanderbilt led the Southeastern Conference in rebounding last season at 9.2 per game and averaged 15 points. But he isn’t yet ready to play after missing the last eight games last season with a knee injury.

BIG PICTURE

Houston Baptist: Coach Ron Cottrell is in his 31st year and will have to wait a few games to reach the 500 victory milestone. He’s still at 497.

Texas: Beard has built excitement in Austin and Texas has sold nearly 9,000 season tickets, a school record. Beard has been hosting “fireside chats” around campus to preview the season and even scheduled a game in two weeks in the old Gregory Gym in the heart of campus, which is where Texas used to play 50 years ago. That game will be for students only.

After the game ended Tuesday night, Beard invited students onto the court for a team photo.

UP NEXT

Houston Baptist hosts Barclay College on Saturday

Texas plays at No. 1 Gonzaga on Saturday.

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