Texas Basketball: 2 studs, 1 dud from dominant win over Gonzaga

Stud No. 2: Tyrese Hunter, G

There aren’t many negative things I have to say about anything that the reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and standout sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter did for the Longhorns in this game, outside of a pretty slow start.

But Hunter picked up right where he left off after his big second-half performance in Texas’ season-opening win on Nov. 7 over the UTEP Miners.

This was definitely the best game of the season so far for Hunter, as he registered a career-best 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. I don’t really know where this outburst from three-point land came from for Hunter.

But it was a welcome sight without a doubt.

Coming into this game, Hunter had shot just 1-of-7 from three-point land. He’s now close to the ballpark of shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc just after this game.

Hunter also racked up three rebounds, two assists, one steal, no blocks, and two turnovers. Given the insanely-high usage rate that Hunter will have coming out of this game, it was nice to see the number of turnovers he had drop a good bit compared to the first two outings of the season.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Hunter was the MVP of this game for the Longhorns. He has continued to prove that he can be a big-game player for the Longhorns. Hunter has played up to the competition when the time calls for it against Gonzaga and UTEP this season.