Men’s preview: No. 5 Texas vs. Houston Baptist
Tuesday’s game marks the beginning of UT’s 45th and final season in the Erwin Center.
Brian Davis
No. 5 Texas vs. Houston Baptist
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Erwin Center (capacity 16,540)
TV/radio: Longhorn Network/104.9 The Horn
About the series: First meeting
About the Longhorns: All eyes were on coach Chris Beard during the offseason. But now it’s time to focus on the players. Four different Longhorns finished in double figures in the exhibition win over Texas Lutheran. Timmy Allen had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and Courtney Ramey had 12 points by going 6-of-10. It’ll be interesting to see if Mitchell starts or comes off the bench; he had 16 points and made seven of 11 shots. With the Gonzaga game just days away, this is Texas’ final tune-up before a national audience tunes in to see the new-look Horns. The only player not likely to go is Dylan Disu, the Pflugerville product who transferred from Vanderbilt. He’s still recovering from a knee injury suffered last season.
About the Huskies: Coach Ron Cottrell’s program has won only 10 games the last two seasons playing in the Southland Conference. This year’s team was picked to finish last in the preseason Southland poll. That doesn’t mean the team won’t be prepared. Houston Baptist players recently went through a three-day military boot camp. Sophomore Za-Ontay Boothman was named a second-team preseason all-conference pick by the league’s coaches after averaging 10.2 points per game last season and shot 35.8% from 3-point range. Houston Baptist is using early non-conference games as revenue generators, something all schools must do. The team will likely take its lumps against Texas, Texas A&M (Nov. 17) and Oklahoma (No. 24).
Contact Brian Davis by phone or text at 512-445-3957. Email bdavis@statesman.com or @BDavisAAS.