Texas men’s basketball entered the Deaf Dome at LSU and came out alive and well with its most dominant score in conference play, winning 89-58.
Freshman guard Tre Johnson and graduate guard Tramon Mark tied for the lead in points at 18, with Johnson also tallying five assists. Mark’s defensive presence proved essential to the staggering difference in the score. Going man-to-man against LSU’s senior guard Cam Carter, Mark kept him to just six points, compared to his season average of 17.9.
But the standout performance came from graduate forward Kadin Shedrick.
Shedrick played his best game of the year, recording a season-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of 2024-25.
Texas started with an early lead, even after LSU’s Dji Bailey set the crowd off with a huge dunk over Shedrick. Some sloppy turnovers aided the Longhorns in setting out on their run early, which lasted the entire game. LSU is, notably, one of the worst teams nationally regarding ball control, but only had six turnovers in the first half. The scoreboard read 31-25 as the teams headed into their locker rooms for the break.
The second half immediately resulted in more turnovers from the Tigers. At the 15-minute mark, LSU called a timeout after giving the ball up three times in just less than five minutes. Texas replied to the timeout with a 6-0 run, completely shutting out every LSU offensive scheme. Junior guard Jordan Pope recorded his first points at the game with a three, quickly followed by a jumper at midrange.
The Longhorns seemed to have found their groove in the shooting game. Going 47.6% from a distance, seven different Texas players were able to put a three on the board by the last seven minutes of the second half. Texas shot accurately for 68.6% within the second half and 56.3% overall. It’s an incredible difference from less than a month ago when the Longhorns were struggling to convert their attempts.
Of course, the LSU turnovers were a tremendous help. The Tigers had a whopping 15 by the end of the game, compared to Texas’ seven.
Still, the Longhorns are on the move. With the Southeastern Conference tournament looming in a few short weeks, they’ve won four out of six of their last games in the most competitive conference in the nation. In the aftermath of Texas’ upset against Texas A&M, Johnson summed it up perfectly.
“It’s the will to want to win,” he said. “That’s what we’ve needed, and we’re starting to get that and learn how to win games.”
