Texas Basketball: 2 studs, 1 dud from UT's convincing win vs. LSU

In one of the better performances of the regular season, No. 19 Texas basketball and head coach Rodney Terry took care of business in convincing fashion against head coach Matt McMahon and the LSU Tigers on Dec. 16. Texas defeated LSU in the first of two games that will be played on Dec. 16 as part of the Halal Guys Showcase at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX.

Texas took control of this game from the very start of the first half. The Longhorns made it rain from beyond the arc to get a double-digit lead roughly five minutes after tip-off.

The offense continued to perform at a high level for the Longhorns for the rest of the first half, leading to Texas taking a commanding 56-37 lead into the locker room at halftime. This was the first time this season that the Longhorns scored over 50 points in the first half of a game.

No. 19 Texas basketball tops LSU by double digits on Dec. 16

LSU did make a better push in the second half. The Tigers won the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the 19-point first-half lead the Longhorns built.

The win over LSU gives Texas its second victory in a row and moves it to 8-2 (0-0 Big 12) on the season.

Here's a look at two studs and one dud from the Longhorns' 96-85 win over LSU in the Halal Guys Showcase in Houston on Dec. 16.

Stud: Tyrese Hunter, G

For the first time in a couple of weeks, junior guard Tyrese Hunter gets a stud spot on the list for a Texas win. Hunter had arguably his best game of the regular season, registering a season-high 19 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.

Hunter was locked-in on both ends of the floor while logging an impressive season-high 38 minutes. Outside of a solid shooting performance, Hunter registered four assists and reeled in one offensive board.

This was the type of offensive performance Texas needs in the backcourt from Hunter and senior guard Max Abmas. They were on fire against LSU, combining for 39 points on better than 50 percent shooting from the field and over 40 percent from beyond the arc.

The only knock I have against Hunter and Abmas was turnovers. They were a little careless with the ball at times in this game, combining for nine turnovers.

But we can't complain about Hunter performing at this level in transition and on the offensive end in the settled half court offense. This was the best version of Hunter we've seen at least since he registered 18 points and four assists on 75 percent shooting from the field in a home win over the Rice Owls on Nov. 15.

If Hunter shows up like this for the rest of the month, he'll be cooking at the right time as Texas heads into Big 12 play in a few weeks.