Texas big man puts on offensive clinic in crucial SEC win vs. Ole Miss

The Texas Longhorns picked up a much-needed SEC win last night against Ole Miss at the Moody Center, bringing their conference record up to 6-5 on the year.

Though the entire team played pretty well for the most part, one specific Longhorn stood out above the rest: C Matas Vokietaitis.

It's no secret that he's had an inconsistent season on both sides of the ball this year, but this wasn't one of those nights. He was totally dominant against the Rebels, playing clean defense and being absolutely unstoppable near the rim on offense.

He finished the night with 27 points (81.8%), 9/12 FT (75%), 7 rebounds, and 1 assist in 35 minutes.

After the game, Sean Miller praised Vokietaitis and revealed a previous conversation that he had with Matas:

"I'll also say this about Matas. Coming off of South Carolina, it might have been his worst SEC individual performance he had. If you remember, he struggled down the stretch, missing a few easy ones, which he never does, and I thought he let some frustration in that game affect him. We talked a lot the last couple of days about that with him, and he may have played his best game of the SEC season. Today he was the difference in the game."

Very few 7-footers in college basketball have the type of overall ability that Vokietaitis has, and he's been the one carrying Texas on the offensive side of the ball when the backcourt has been falling behind. Though that hasn't happened too often (thankfully) this year, he's still an incredibly important piece to the team's success.

If the Longhorns end up making a strong push and make it to the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Matas Vokietaitis will be a huge reason why.

Texas is off until February 14th when they head to Columbia, MO, to take on the Missouri Tigers.