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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas was out of sorts for large stretches of Tuesday’s 84-75 win over South Carolina.
Nevertheless, the Longhorns overcame a forgettable offensive first half (8-for-26 shooting) and turnovers and defensive lapses in the second half to exit Moody Center with a victory over the Gamecocks in a must-win game. Dailyn Swain scored 15 of his team-high 22 points in the second half (10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, with three assists and two steals), while Tramon Mark scored 15 of his 18 points over the last 20 minutes of play.
Texas (14-9, 5-5 SEC) remained KenPom.com’s No. 34 team after the win, maintaining the Longhorns’ case to stay on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble (Texas entered Tuesday’s game as one of Joe Lunardi’s last four teams in the field of 68).
Here are three takeaways from a win the Longhorns had to grind out:
1. Along with Swain making clutch plays at both ends of the floor and Mark finding his groove offensively in the second half, Texas got a big lift from Cam Heide (12 points, five rebounds and two assists), who delivered arguably his best performance as a Longhorn. He drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to break a 50-50 tie midway through the second half, but his defensive effort, including the three rebounds he grabbed down the stretch, kept him on the court.
With Matas Vokietaitis (12 points on 3-for-8 shooting and nine rebounds) unable to get into a flow offensively (four turnovers) before fouling out, and Jordan Pope (three points on 1-for-6 shooting in 26 minutes) struggling, Heide’s offensive output was a godsend.
2. Even though Simeon Wilcher (seven points, four assists and two rebounds) dealt with foul trouble throughout the game, he led a productive night by the Longhorn bench. It’s the second game in a row Wilcher has come up big off the bench after scoring 10 points with two rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 22 minutes in last Saturday’s 79-69 road win over Oklahoma.
Wilcher, Chendall Weaver and Lassina Traore combined for 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, helping the Texas bench outscore South Carolina’s (17-15). It’s how they scored, however, that made a difference on Tuesday: Weaver knocked down a big corner three at the 6:36 mark of the second half to extend the lead and Traore scored all five of his points at the foul line (5-for-6), positively contributing to the team’s 29-for-36 performance on free throws.
3. It was two made free throws by Traore that allowed the Longhorns to take their first lead of the game with 4:36 remaining in the first half. A dismal 1-for-10 start put Texas in a hole to open the game, one from which it spent most of the night trying to emerge.
The Longhorns eventually got there, in part, by making an effort to attack the basket and force the issue with paint touches after missing five 3-pointers before the first media timeout of the first half. The defensive lapses and sloppy sequences aside, the slow start (the Gamecocks led by as many as nine points in the first half) could be chalked up to Miller’s squad feeling the impact of playing a fourth SEC game in 11 days.
Thankfully, Texas gets a day off on Wednesday and two full days to get ready for Ole Miss on Saturday. Chris Beard’s return to the Forty Acres since he was fired in January 2023 should make it an emotionally charged affair.
The Longhorns know they need to be better on Saturday than they were on Tuesday. A couple of days to catch their breath after winning three of their last four should help the cause.
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