AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Jase Febres scored 12 points, leading five players in double figures as Texas defeated Texas-Arlington 76-56 on Friday night.
Kerwin Roach II and Eli Mitrou-Long scored 11 each, while Courtney Ramey and Royce Hamm Jr. had 10 apiece.
Texas (8-4) led by only six early the second half, but Roach scored six straight points in a span of 1:20 to help the Longhorns pull away.
Texas exceled in the second half despite some inefficiency on offense. On one possession early, the 6-foot-9 Dylan Osetkowski missed three layups, each time retrieving the rebound. His fourth attempt was blocked by Andres Ibarguen, Texas-Arlington’s tallest starter at 6-5.
Jaxson Hayes, the Longhorns’ 6-foot-11 freshman who is regarded as an NBA prospect, made his first start but spent chunks of the game in foul trouble. He finished with four points, four rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes. Hayes did hit both of his shots, extending his streak to 18 in a row over the last four games.
Edric Dennis led Texas-Arlington (4-9) with 23 points and eight rebounds. Dennis made six 3-point baskets. Brian Warren scored 12.
The Mavericks, under first-year coach Chris Ogden, are missing their top nine scorers from last season, and it shows. Against Texas they missed five shots, and committed three turnovers, before scoring five minutes into the game.
BIG PICTURE
Texas-Arlington: Ogden, a former Longhorn forward and assistant coach, inherited players who accounted for just 3.2 percent of Texas-Arlington’s points last season, and with those meager resources the Mavs lost to Indiana, Arkansas, Tulsa, Missouri and Gonzaga before facing Texas. The smallest margin of defeat was 14, against Indiana and Tulsa. Texas-Arlington ranks between 327th and 347 th nationally in three major categories: scoring, field goal accuracy and 3-point accuracy. They fell short of their usual numbers in points and overall shooting accuracy.
Texas: The Longhorns are generally awful at making 3-point shots, their 32.2 percent accuracy ranking 254th nationally. Three-point defense is one thing that Texas-Arlington does well, ranking 14th in the country (27.2). The results were predictable: Texas finished with 28.6 percent after hitting 2 of 13 in the first half.
NEXT UP
Texas-Arlington faces Georgia State on Thursday in their Sun Belt Conference opener. They split two regular season games last year, each winning at home. Georgia State then beat Texas-Arlington in the championship game of the Sun Belt tournament.
Texas begins Big 12 competition on Wednesday at Kansas State. The Longhorns have lost four straight to the Wildcats, last winning in 2016.
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