Dec. 22, 2005

Final Stats

AUSTIN - LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead Texas to an 85-49 win over Texas State Thursday.

Aldridge was one of four Texas starters to score in double figures as the No. 15 Longhorns snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 9-2 on the year. Texas State fell to 1-8 with the loss.

The Bobcats were led by Jeremy Johnson who came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points, including 17 in the second half. Johnson, who had scored 16 points last week in a win over Texas-Pan American, was 6-of-11 from the field against the Longhorns. He made 4-of-6 three-pointers and also made all four of his free throw attempts.

Both Chris Langhorne and Brandon Bush each had 10 points for the Bobcats.

Texas opened the game by drilling three consecutive three-point baskets and converted on five of its first seven field goal attempts to jump out to a 13-0 lead.

Daniel Gibson, who suffered a concussion in last Saturday's game against Tennessee, drilled back-to-back three-pointers to open the game and Kenton Paulino added another trey to put the Longhorns out in front 9-0 with 17:58 to play in the first period.

Gibson finished with 15 points and had four assists in 36 minutes of playing time.

Despite Gibson's return, Texas continued to be decimated by various injuries to its roster. The Longhorns utilized just seven players in the game. In addition to double-figure performances by Aldridge and Gibson, P.J. Tucker had 17 points and nine rebounds while A.J. Abrams added 11.

"We told our guys that we were expecting a full roster tonight," said Texas State coach Dennis Nutt. "Daniel (Gibson) came in there and gave them a spark early."

Texas State finally got on the board when Lance Burroughs cut inside for a layin off a Jushay Rockett pass with 15:25 to play in the opening half.

The Longhorns' lead was 17-8 when Johnson converted a three-point play.

After a Tucker field goal and a pair of free throws by Texas State's Bush, the Longhorns would go on an 18-5 run to build a 37-15 lead. Texas' rally included three-pointers by Paulino and Abrams as well as six straight free throws. Texas would finish the half by making just three of its final 14 field goal attempts.

Texas State would go to the locker room at the half trailing 37-22 after Trevor Cook hit a three-pointer and Langhorne made four straight free throws.

At one point in the first half the Longhorns had made 50 percent of their shots (10-of-20) but finished the period with a 38.2 shooting percentage. Texas would shoot 60 percent in the second period, including a 6-of-12 performance from three-point range. Texas State was held to 27 percent shooting from the field.

The Bobcats return to action Dec. 30 when they play host to Texas-Tyler. Texas' next game is also Dec. 30 when it plays host to Prairie View A&M.