Texas Basketball: 2 studs, 1 dud from Longhorns win over Delaware St

No. 18 Texas basketball battled a tougher-than-expected Delaware State Hornets team to pull away late in its second game of the regular season at home at the Moody Center in Austin on Nov. 10. Texas held a single-digit lead over Delaware State and head coach Stan Waterman for most of the game.

Head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns struggled with Delaware State’s zone defense. Delaware State’s pesky defense generated nearly 20 turnovers, the most for Texas under Terry’s run since he took over as the interim head coach in the middle of last season.

Texas rode a late run to win a big victory over Delaware State by a score of 86-59. But the final score wasn’t very indicative of how this game went most of the way at the Moody Center on this night.

No. 18 Texas basketball rides a late run to top Delaware State 86-59

The Longhorns weren’t as free-flowing on offense and weren’t able to get out and run in transition as they did in the season-opening win on Nov. 6 over the Incarnate Word Cardinals. Texas scored 29 fastbreak points in the opener against UIW. That number was cut in half in the win over Delaware State.

Terry and the Longhorns have plenty of things to work on before the schedule heats up in mid-to-late November in the Empire Classic in New York City. Next up for the Longhorns is a Nov. 15 matchup at home at the Moody Center against the Rice Owls.

Here are two studs and one dud from the Longhorns’ late pullaway win against Delaware State at home on Nov. 10.

Stud: Ithiel Horton, Wing

Another explosive night on the offensive end for super senior Texas wing Ithiel Horton led the Longhorns to this sizable win over Delaware State. Horton was fantastic on the offensive end, outside of a couple of avoidable turnovers in the first half.

He was scorching hot shooting from the field and beyond the arc against Delaware State, finishing up 5-of-6 shooting from deep. This is the second consecutive game that Horton led the team in three-point field goal makes. He’s now 8-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc in the season’s first two games.

Horton also contributed on the offensive end with three dimes.

Outside of the four turnovers (many of which can’t be blamed solely on him), Horton was very efficient for the Longhorns on both ends. He registered a team-high three steals, which the Longhorns turned into four points on the other end.

It sounds like Horton is finding a home naturally at Texas, where he has the go-ahead to be more aggressive to pull the trigger offensively and let his game open up.

"“Them giving me the confidence to shoot the ball, being a green-light shooter, it means everything. Honestly, I ain’t gonna lie sometimes I get the ball and I be open and I don’t shoot it. But they’re on me saying we want you to shoot the ball. Just having that reassurance is everything to me because I need that.”"

Horton is proving to be the perfect fit on the wing for this Longhorns team. He’s scoring at an incredibly efficient pace, especially from deep. Averaging over two points per field goal attempt is a great mark to be at for an off-ball scoring wing such as Horton. And the fact that he’s being this disruptive on defense is icing on the cake for his first two games at Texas this season.