No. 7 Texas absolutely crushed Gardner-Webb 98-50 on Thursday night, with junior Matas Vokietaitis dropping a cool 16 points to lead the charge. This Longhorns team is showing early they mean business, and their inside game is already a nightmare for opponents.
Vokietaitis Leads the Charge Inside
Vokietaitis, who recently celebrated his 22nd birthday, was incredibly efficient. He shot 6 for 8 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds, all in just 20 minutes on the court. Get this: he has now converted an insane 15 of 17 shots in his first two games. The 7-foot big man is clearly a force. Texas, now 2-0, totally dominated Gardner-Webb inside, outscoring them a ridiculous 54-10 in the paint. That size and muscle was on full display, especially in the first half when Texas had a 28-6 advantage in the paint.
Vokietaitis wasn’t the only one putting in work, though. Isaiah Johnson, a sophomore transfer from Colorado, chipped in with 15 points. Freshmen Marcus Spears Jr. and Joe Sterling each added 13, with Sterling draining three 3-pointers after hitting four in the opener against Chicago State. Another freshman, Austin Goosby, had 11 points and was a menace on defense with five of Texas’s 13 steals. The Longhorns were on a mission, making a 21-0 push to finish the first half, putting them up 54-20 at the break.
Bulldogs Can’t Find the Bucket
Gardner-Webb, picked to finish dead last in the nine-team Big South Conference by their own coaches, simply couldn’t get anything going. They went a whopping 12 minutes without a field goal, stretching from the first half into the second, and Texas capitalized with a brutal 33-2 run during that time. The Runnin’ Bulldogs shot a dismal 33% overall, including just 5 of 23 from beyond the arc. They struggled heavily on the perimeter in the first half too, missing 11 of their 12 three-point attempts.
Plus, they coughed up the ball 23 times, which Texas turned into 31 points and 28 fast-break points. Mikhail Pocknett and Jamias Ferere each had 12 points for Gardner-Webb, but it wasn’t enough. They couldn’t even score in the final six minutes of the first half, showing just how much Texas overpowered them. Gardner-Webb shot 31% overall in the first half after hitting only 25.5% in their season-opening 86-46 loss at UConn.
So, No. 7 Texas moves to a commanding 2-0. They’re hosting Grambling State on Monday. Gardner-Webb, now 0-2 after a tough season-opener, will try to turn things around when they host Erskine on Wednesday.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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