Cliffs Notes: Despite a deep stretch of second-half basketball that left the outcome very much in serious doubt, freshman Tre Johnson got going late to help Texas escape with a 70-66 win over Syracuse.
The Participants: Texas (3-1) and Syracuse (3-0)
Pre-Game KenPom Rankings: Texas (No. 24) and Syracuse (No. 107)
Game MVP: The winner of this award was Arthur Kaluma (16 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists) until Johnson woke up late to score 8 of the team's final 12 points in the final 3:45 of the game to secure the win. It didn't matter that Johnson missed 9 straight shots after starting 3 of 7 from the field, he stepped up late when the game was begging for him to be the best player on the field.
He's Baaaaaack: Everyone has been waiting for Arkansas transfer Tramon Mark to recover from an ankle injury so that he could make his Texas debut and Thursday night proved to be the night. The pre-season third-team All-SEC selection knocked down a couple of 3s in the first half and finished with 6 points on 2 of 5 shooting in 19 minutes of action, while also posting a plus/minus of -10.
Second-Half Drought The Longhorns took a 50-37 lead with 16:45 left in the second half and then scored 6 points over the course of the next 10 minutes of action, as Syracuse went on a 19-6 run to tie the game at 56-56 with less than 6 minutes to go.
Fast Start: The Longhorns jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Syracuse scored its first bucket with 15:55 remaining in the first half. Texas was able to grow that lead out to 22-10 going into the second TV timeout.
Thing You Need to Know: Syracuse shot 9 of 18 from the free throw line. That left a mark.
Battle of the Boards: Texas ended up winning the rebounding battle 35-30 and a big reason for that was Chendal Weaver crashing the boards for 9 from his guard position. Kaluma and Weaver combined for 19 of the team's 35 total rebounds.
Thing To Truly Remember: Johnson seemed lost in the Texas offense for much of the second half, but he made a tough jumped inside the 4-minute mark to end a near 20-minute shooting slump and he closed the game like a boss. Everyone seemed on the same page that he needed to have the ball and he took charge like a player completely comfortable in the closer role. This was a big little moment in the season.
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