On Saturday, the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorn basketball team traveled to Spokane, Washington, to take on the number one ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs. It was billed as a matchup between two teams with final four potential but based on this early season result there is quite a gap between the two teams.
In front of their sold-out crowd, Gonzaga easily handled the Longhorns and walked away with an 86-74 victory that never seemed like a close match. Longhorn fans witnessed their team with no answer for Gonzaga star Junior power forward Drew Timme.
Timme, who graduated from JJ Pearce High School in Richardson, TX in 2019, played all but two minutes of the game and was simply unstoppable all night. He finished with 37 points on an incredible 15-of-19 shooting record, passing his previous career-high of 30 points. Timme also added seven rebounds and three assists on the night.
Longhorns coach Chris Beard spoke postgame about Timme and noted that he had recruited Timme while coaching at Texas Tech. “He’s a load,”’ Beard said. “A true 6-10, strong. He plays his angles really well.”’
The Longhorns tried everything to slow Timme down. Almost everyone on the team had a chance at being the primary defender on Timme. Eventually, the team resorted to double-teaming him, but it did not affect him as he continued making shot after shot. Timme did most of his damage close to the rim; Gonzaga resoundingly outscored the Longhorns 44-22 in the paint.
It was apparent early in the game that the Longhorns were overmatched and that Timme would have a huge night. He had 11 points less than five minutes into the game as he hit on his first five shots. He finished the first half successfully scoring on 9-of-10 attempts.
Gonzaga’s other players were efficient as they hit 59% of their shots in the first half. In contrast, the Longhorns hit just 36% of their shots and made nine fewer shots overall in the first half. The Longhorns trailed 27-47 at halftime.
Coach Chris Beard did make adjustments at halftime, and the Longhorns gave Gonzaga a much tougher battle in the second half. Texas wound up outscoring Gonzaga 47-39 in the second half as they made a much more concerted effort to score points near the basket instead of from outside. However, it was not enough to overcome the 20-point deficit the experienced Gonzaga team had built in the first half.
Timmy Allen led Texas with 18 points, Marcus Carr added 11, and Jase Febres finished with 10 points. The Longhorns fell to 0-12 all-time against teams ranked number one and 0-4 all-time against Gonzaga. All previous meetings had been at neutral sites.
The Longhorns are the highest-ranked opponent ever to visit Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004. It is incredibly tough to win there as the Bulldogs are 237-15 all-time in the building. Gonzaga is scheduled to visit Austin to play the Longhorns next year.
Texas dropped to number eight in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll rankings with this loss. Their next five games will all be at home. Texas will first host Northern Colorado on Wednesday, then San Jose State on November 20th, and California Baptist on November 24th.
