By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
AUSTIN, Texas – The first half of Sunday morning’s game at Texas did not follow the script the Northwestern State men’s basketball team has written against power-conference competition in the 2024-25 season.
The Longhorns bookended the first half with a pair of pivotal scoring runs to set the tone in an eventual 77-53 victory inside the Moody Center.
“Our guys did a good job in our matchup zone, which I thought gave them a little trouble,” second-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “They made some really tough shots. There were a couple where your guys look at each other and say you can’t do anything about it and move on to the next play. That happened on some very crucial possessions.
“There were times our guys played well defensively. Our pregame (emphasis) was to stay in front and contest jump shots. They contested a lot of them. They just went in. That comes with the Jimmies and the Joes. Their Jimmies made them.”
Texas (11-2) started the game with an 8-0 run across the first 3:50 of the game before Micah Thomas put the Demons on the board with a 3-pointer.
Thomas’ bucket began an 11-4 surge from Northwestern (5-7) that cut the Texas lead to one. Thanks to Addison Patterson’s 12 first-half points, the Demons stayed within striking range for most of the first half until the Longhorns closed the half with a 14-2 surge to build a 19-point edge.
Northwestern turned its defense into offense during the stretch, forcing three turnovers during that time.
After holding their first two Southeastern Conference opponents of the season – Oklahoma and LSU – to less than 45 percent shooting in the first half, the Demons were unable to complete that trifecta against Texas, which entered the game as the No. 2 shooting offense in the nation.
The Longhorns connected on 62.5 percent of their first-half shots (15-for-24) and half of their 12 3-point tries in the opening 20 minutes. Three of those 3-pointers came to start the 14-2 run to end the first half.
Northwestern tightened the defensive screws in the second half, limiting the Longhorns to 40 percent shooting while in turn playing more efficient offense. Behind a strong second-half performance from Thomas, who finished with a game-high 19 points, the Demons shot 48 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.
Thomas scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, hitting 5 of his 6 field goal attempts, including two of his three 3-pointers in the game.
The halftime deficit and more strong 3-point shooting from the Longhorns, who hit 11 of 25 3-pointers in the game, proved too much to overcome.
Thomas and Patterson (18 points) were the Demons’ lone double-figure scorers as the bench (47 points) carried the Northwestern offense.
“Micah was our lead guard today and scored it at a high clip,” Cabrera said. “Addi played well. Sometimes, he just has to let the game come to him rather than him go to the game. When he does, he becomes a much better player. Texas has great size and great guards. Against teams like this, you have to play mistake-free basketball. When you make mistakes against teams like this, they capitalize, and they did that today.”
Tre Johnson, who had not played since Dec. 12, led Texas with 18 points while Jordan Pope added 11.
The Demons return to action Saturday when they jump back into Southland Conference play by hosting Nicholls. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum.