Texas Basketball: 4 things we learned from Longhorns win over Aggies

3. Andrew Jones’ presence becoming ever-more crucial

Bench scoring was mostly a foreign idea to the Texas basketball program under Smart’s direction the last few seasons. But thanks to the addition of shooting guard Andrew Jones back into the rotation for the Longhorns this season, the bench scoring is one of the more reliable aspects of the depth this team brings to the table.

In this outing against the Aggies, Jones was one of two Longhorns that found themselves in double-digits scoring. But Jones was the leading scorer for either team that came off the bench. He played in 24 crucial minutes, and amassed 12 points and five assists. He was efficient doing so too.

Jones also added one rebound and two steals, with just one turnover, to his stat line. He went 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 from three-point range. He helped to offset a rough day from the Texas starting guard combination of junior Matt Coleman and sophomore Courtney Ramey. Coleman and Ramey turned the ball over a combined nine times.

The volume scoring presence helps bolster a Texas offense that is usually devoid of pure bucket-getters off the bench. Smart doesn’t recruit microwave scorers like Jones often, and he’ll be much needed for this rotation moving forward. He’s one of the Longhorns leading scorers this season, and their best bench scorer, averaging 12.3 points per game.