2/17/03

No. 3 Texas 77, Texas Tech 65

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	Brian Boddicker

AUSTIN, Texas -- Junior Brandon Mouton hit five 3-pointers in the first half to spark Texas (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 3 AP) to a 77-65 victory Monday night over Texas Tech

Mouton finished with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range as Texas (18-4, 9-2 Big 12) stayed undefeated in 12 home games this season. Sophomore T.J. Ford added 15 points and seven assists as Texas won for the 12th straight time over the Red Raiders (14-8, 4-7).

Robert Tomaszek scored 14 for Texas Tech, which has lost three of its last four.

Tech was without its best shooter but it was Texas that struggled to score in the early going. The Longhorns started the game just 4-of-16 from the floor over the first 10 minutes.

The game was tied at 18 when Mouton finally got going. After missing his first 3-point attempt, Mouton hit five in a row, including consecutive shots that keyed a 14-2 run to put the Longhorns ahead 32-20.

Mouton's fifth 3-pointer made it 42-26 before Texas went into halftime leading 44-31.

Tech got outrebounded 41-34, but still outscored Texas in the paint 42-24. However, it wasn't enough as the Red Raiders struggled to find some way to keep up with Texas' sharpshooters. The Longhorns went 10-of-20 from behind the 3-point arc.

Tech, meanwhile, was just 3-of-12 on 3-pointers and forward Kasib Powell, who averages 15.7 points, picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and was ineffective for much of the game.

The Red Raiders managed to pull within 11, 49-38, when Will Chavis hit a 3-pointer with 17 minutes to play.

That's when Texas closed the door.

Ford hit consecutive baskets, Sydmill Harris hit a 3-pointer and junior Brian Boddicker finished a fast break with a two-handed dunk in a 11-0 run over the next three minutes that made it 60-38.

A late Tech run after Texas had benched its starters cut the final margin to 12.

	Brandon Mouton

POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS HEAD COACH RICK BARNES
ON OVERALL PERFORMANCE…
“I have great admiration for Coach Bob Knight and what he thought he had to do for his program. They were still a great team and played us hard. We struggled in the first half a little bit and rushed some things.”
ON TEXAS’ FOCUS DURING THE GAME…
“We had some great early looks but they didn’t fall for us. The thing that I was concerned with most was execution. Coming out of halftime we talked about seeing how many consecutive stops we could get, and I thought we did a good job of that in the second half.”

TEXAS GUARD T.J. FORD
ON TONIGHTS WIN…
“We played well tonight. We did some good things and some bad things, and we need to correct the things that we did wrong before our next game. We need to take our game to the next level”

TEXAS GUARD BRANDON MOUTON
ON TONIGHTS GAME …
“I got into a really good rhythm tonight. After my first shot, everything started to flow. Tech did a better job guarding me in the second half, and they put a lot of pressure on me which forced me to give the ball to my teammates and not take as many shots in the second half.”

TEXAS TECH HEAD COACH BOB KNIGHT
ON THE TEAM’S PERFORMANCE WITHOUT NICK VALDEZ AND ANDRE EMMETT…
“After this game, I believe if we had started the season with these eight players we would have a better team than we do now. They played together, they played with each other – something we haven’t done this season. Based on last Saturday’s performance, [Valdez and Emmett] didn’t deserve to play. What happened today didn’t impact our decision.”

ON TEXAS…
“I really like Texas. They’re a good team, well-coached, play hard at basketball and don’t give up anything. I enjoy watching them. They’re unselfish, move the ball and are hard to score against. I really respect this team.”

TEXAS TECH GUARD WILL CHAVIS
ON NICK VALDEZ AND ANDRE EMMETT NOT PLAYING…
“They didn’t deserve to play tonight after the way they played last Saturday. As a team we voted that they shouldn’t play, and we don’t know [if they will play for the rest of the season].”

TEXAS TECH FORWARD KASIB POWELL
ON TEXAS TECH’S PERFORMANCE TONIGHT…
“It was really important that we played as well as we did. If we correct our little mistakes, listen to the coach and don’t get into foul trouble we have a good shot in the post season.”