Texas basketball can't get untracked against No. 3 Houston in resounding road loss.
HOUSTON — Knowing what it takes to beat Houston in its fortress of the Fertitta Center is one thing.
But turning the knowledge into a win requires something entirely different, as the Cougars showed Texas in an 82-61 victory Saturday.
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The third-ranked Cougars (22-3, 9-3 Big 12) dominated the glass early and disrupted the Texas offense often — two points of emphasis for UT coach Rodney Terry and his staff all week. Houston outrebounded Texas 45-34 and had 17 offensive rebounds. The Cougars also held UT to its lowest point total of the season as well as its lowest shooting percentage (39%) while handing the Longhorns their second worst loss of the season.
In the process, Houston stretched its home winning streak to 19, the longest such streak in the nation — at least until Kansas, Drake, San Diego State and Morehead State have a chance to tie the mark.
"We didn't come out with what we have to do in terms of the physicality," Terry said. "Those guys are elite. When you let them get second-chance opportunities to tap that ball around and if you don't beat them to 50-50 balls, you'll have a really hard time beating these guys."
Texas (16-9, 5-7 Big 12) doesn’t have much time to lick its wounds, since Kansas State will visit Moody Center on Monday for what looks like a crucial contest for the Longhorns' NCAA hopes.
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UT had its moments early despite a raucous atmosphere in the Fertitta Center. After Max Abmas hit a contested 3-pointer while getting fouled for his only basket before the break, the Longhorns trailed just 22-20. But a scoreless stretch that lasted almost six minutes late in the first half proved too costly to overcome. By the time Dylan Disu nailed a midrange jumper for Texas' next points, Houston led 31-22. For good measure, the Cougars closed the first half on a 6-0 spurt to build the lead to 40-27.
Less than four minutes into the second half, Houston had a 52-29 lead and looked every bit the squad that the NCAA selection committee pegged as third overall in its first mock seeding of the season Saturday morning.
"We missed some good looks, but it was on the defensive end for us," Disu said referring to Houston's run to close out the first half. "We kind of let our offense get in the way of our defense. We were missing some good looks, so then our defense wasn't as good as it's supposed to be. That's kind of how they got on their run that opened it up."
Disu, the Big 12’s leading scorer in conference play at 18.8 points per game, again paced Texas with 16 points. However, the Longhorns couldn't sustain enough offense to make things close, as they did in a 76-72 overtime loss at Moody Center earlier this season. Chendall Weaver scored 11 points, but no other Texas player reached double figures. Abmas, the Big 12's second-leading scorer in conference play, had just seven points on 2-of-14 shooting while scoring in single digits for the first time this season.
Houston point guard Jamal Shead, a 2020 graduate of Manor High School, showed off his diverse skill set with 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while teammate LJ Cryer led all players with 26 points.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball tumbles on road against No. 3 Houston
