Texas Longhorns

Bamba leads Texas past Lipscomb 80-57 (Nov 18, 2017)

Published Nov. 19, 2017 3:00 p.m. ET

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference, Lipscomb doesn't see anything resembling Mohamed Bamba, the Texas freshman with a 7-foot-9 wingspan.

''Super long, super talented,'' Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said.

And super successful on Saturday night.

Bamba, a 6-foot-11 freshman, produced 13 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks and Texas defeated Lipscomb 80-57. Bamba played only 19 minutes because of foul trouble.

Guard Kerwin Roach II led Texas (3-0) with 16 points, converting 7 of 8 shots from the field. Matt Coleman scored 10.

Garrison Mathews scored 17 points to lead Lipscomb (2-2), nearly nine fewer than his average coming in. He was scoreless in the first half, playing only five minutes because he picked up three fouls.

Mathews played 22 minutes, and Alexander believed he had to put him back in the game with two fouls. ''We couldn't score,'' Alexander said.

Mathews finished 4 of 11 from the field, including 1 of 5 3-pointers, while guarded primarily by Roach. Mathews had made 9 of 18 3-pointers before facing Texas.

''(Roach) won't say this, but he really stepped up big defensively,'' Bamba said. ''He completely took out one of the nation's leading scorers. That's big.''

Texas led by 14 after a first half in which the two teams combined to convert just 1 of 19 3-point attempts, a Longhorns' basket. But the Longhorns made two treys early in the second half, by Bamba and Jase Febres, helping them extend their lead to 20.

Lipscomb committed 17 turnovers against an athletic, opportunistic Texas defense. The Bisons shot 29.3 percent, hitting just 2 of 23 3-pointers.

''It was definitely their defense,'' Alexander said. ''They didn't give us anything.''

BIG PICTURE

Lipscomb: Say this for the Bisons: they were not the least bit timid playing on the road against a brand name school, which should serve them well in the Atlantic Sun Conference. An example: early in the game, 6-foot-9 Eli Pepper made a driving dunk on Bamba, who is projected for the top five of the 2018 NBA draft. Pepper taunted the Longhorns, receiving a technical foul. Lipscomb, which lost at Alabama by 22 points, has two remaining games against teams from Power Five conferences, at Tennessee and at Purdue.

Texas: The Longhorns made it through their first three games with ease, beating Northwestern State by 46 points and New Hampshire by 18 - without Bamba, who had a concussion - before facing Lipscomb. Are the Longhorns for real after finishing 11-22 last season? They will know more next week at the PK80 tournament in Portland when they face Butler on Thanksgiving and either No. 1 Duke or Portland State on Friday. The tournament concludes on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Lipscomb is at Abilene Christian on Monday.

Texas faces Butler on Thursday in Portland, Oregon.