New-look Texas will look to break into the win column when it hosts Lafayette in Saturday’s home opener in Austin, Texas.
It is the first of four straight home games against mid-major opponents for Texas in advance of a trip to Hawaii to play in the Maui Invitational on Thanksgiving week. The stretch should give the Longhorns plenty of time and game activity to get better acclimated to each other and to the demands of new coach Sean Miller.
The Longhorns opened their season and Miller’s tenure with a 75-60 loss to No. 6 Duke on Tuesday in the inaugural Dick Vitale Invitational in Charlotte. Dailyn Swain scored 16 points to lead Texas in the loss while Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope had 15 points apiece.
Texas led by a point at the break but surrendered a 10-0 Duke run to open the second half. The Longhorns rallied to within 51-48 midway through the second but were ultimately doomed by another Blue Devils surge.
The Longhorns shot 32.2% from the floor, made just 5 of 17 3-point attempts and were hurt by 16 turnovers.
“The more we play games, the longer we are together, I believe that we’ll be a better team, a more competitive team, and a team that can win bigger games later in the year,” Miller said. “That doesn’t mean we’re starting off with a bunch of excuses. I have to remind myself that this is the starting line, not the finish line.”
The Longhorns have won 23 straight home openers and are 104-15 all-time in home-opening contests.
Lafayette (1-1) heads to Austin after a 79-44 win over Division III Dickinson on Wednesday. Caleb Williams scored a game-high 16 points and Andrew Phillips added 15 before the Leopards emptied their bench.
The win allowed Lafayette to bounce back from an 85-76 loss at Saint Joseph’s on Monday in their season opener.
The Leopards have adopted a “win at all costs” attitude this season, according to Williams.
“We knew last year we had a good team, but this year we came back with younger guys,” Williams said. “Everybody doubted us, and we’re just trying to flip the script.”
