The Texas Longhorns continue to build momentum, winning a fifth straight game with Tuesday’s 88-85 victory over the LSU Tigers at the Moody Center.
Near the end of the first half, the lead reached 17 points for the Longhorns before a 12-0 run by the Tigers early in the second half made it a close game, but head coach Sean Miller’s team made enough winning plays down the stretch to send LSU to its 11th conference loss even though guard Max Mackinnon scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in a red-hot second half that saw him convert 8-of-10 shots.
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Junior wing Dailyn Swain led Texas with 21 points despite only playing 21 minutes because of foul trouble in both halves and adding 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. When Swain was out, senior guard Jordan Pope and graduate guard Tramon Mark helped pick up the slack, each scoring 18 points and combining for five made threes. Sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis added 17 points and 10 rebounds for his own double-double, and also had two blocks.
Swain carried Texas early, scoring 11 of the first 17 points for the Longhorns on 4-of-5 shooting, showing off his patience and footwork to successfully navigate the paint against the Tigers. But the Xavier transfer did pick up his second foul at the 10:13 mark of the first half, subbing out in favor of junior forward Cam Heide.
With Swain on the bench, Pope took over after getting to the free-throw line, hitting back-to-back threes in scoring seven straight points for Texas, which was beginning to create some separation from LSU in leading 27-21 at the under-eight media timeout.
The Longhorns also benefitted from the Tigers missing numerous shots around the basket, starting the game 2-of-11 on layups.
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When Pope hit another three and Vokietaitis got free in the lane for an uncontested dunk, LSU took a timeout at the 3:43 mark as Texas extended the lead into double digits for the first time, allowing Miller to keep Swain on the bench to avoid picking up a third foul.
Texas kept opening up the deficit and forced another timeout by LSU head coach Matt McMahon after Mark hit two threes and came up with a steal that started a transition opportunity finished by a corner three from Heide to make it 46-29 with 1:23 remaining in the half.
At halftime, the Horns were up 48-33 after shooting 63 percent overall and going 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc in an extremely efficient offensive performance. Texas was consistent, too, never missing more than two shots in a row.
Swain made his presence felt in his return after halftime, hitting an open three before multiple efforts from Vokietaitis paid off with a three-point play. A good seal by Vokietaitis opened up the lane for a layup by Pope to keep LSU from going on a run despite the Tigers continuing to get to the rim and finishing better than they did in the first half, including Robert Miller III posterizing Vokietaitis with a dunk.
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Between the first and second media timeouts, the run did happen for LSU, which narrowed the deficit to six points thanks to a 10-0 run that forced Miller to call a timeout with 13:02 remaining as Texas missed four straight shots, three of them from beyond the arc.
On an important possession out of the timeout, Swain turned it over trying to make an entry pass to Vokietaitis and LSU responded with a made jumper on the other end, but junior guard Simeon Wilcher was able to get to the rim for a layup prior to the under-12 media break.
Texas was having trouble stopping Mackinnon, who scored nine points as the Tigers fought back into the game, but Vokietaitis did make a layup and Swain rebounded his own miss to push the margin back to eight points before Mackinnon made another basket and a turnover by Swain led to a breakaway dunk.
Assigned to slow down Mackinnon, Swain picked up his fourth foul at the 9:36 mark, consigning him to the bench once again as LSU produced a 7-of-8 shooting stretch.
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Texas was able to remain in control of the game when Vokietaitis scored at the rim, got to the line for two free throws, and Heide used his shot credibility to produce a resounding dunk off the dribble.
As the defense for the Longhorns stiffened, Mark converted two free throws at the line and put back his own miss to give Texas an eight-point lead at the under-four media timeout.
In desperation mode, LSU made a final push as Mackinnon scored seven straight points to cut the deficit to three points after Mark committed a bad foul against the Tigers in transition. At the free-throw line with 1:16 remaining, Pope missed both, but Texas got a big stop defensively and Miller used a timeout to set up a play with 44.4 seconds left and a three-point lead.
The ability of Vokietaitis to use his big body to screen a potential help defender paid off again, opening up enough space for Pope to get to the rim and flip in the game’s most important shot, forcing LSU to start fouling with 20.9 seconds left after splitting a trip to the line.
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Like Pope, Swain couldn’t take advantage in missing both, leaving the lead at four points. Effective in help defense, Vokietaitis made a huge block in the lane and LSU had to call timeout with 7.9 seconds remaining. Trying to hit a quick three, the Tigers missed everything and had to commit another foul and Mark finally ended the streak of missed free throws to seal the game.
Texas heads back on the road for a Saturday matchup with Georgia in Athens at 2:30 p.m. Central on SEC Network.
