No. 1 Gonzaga puts finishing touch on a rough day for Texas athletics
Saturday was a rough day to be a Texas Longhorn.
First, the Longhorns' football team suffered its fifth straight loss, a wild 57-56 overtime defeat to lowly Kansas. How lowly is Kansas? The Jayhawks snapped an eight-game losing streak and won their first Big 12 road game since 2008. That lowly.
But there was still some hope to salvage the day, because Texas' No. 5-ranked men's basketball team was taking the court eyeing an upset against No. 1 Gonzaga.
No luck, there either, however.
The Longhorns only lost 86-74 on the Zags' home court, a 12-point defeat to a team that only lost once last season. But this one was never really that close, and the Bulldogs even showed a bit of Jalen Suggs-like magic in taking a 20-point halftime lead.
Gonzaga was led by star big man Drew Timme, who scored a career-high 37 points while making 15 of his 19 field goal attempts. Heralded Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren had a quiet night, compiling just two points, five rebounds, two blocks and four fouls in 22 minutes of action.
The Bulldogs, who have won a school-record 53 straight home games, also had Mark Few back on the bench, their coach having completed a three-game suspension for a DUI.
Timmy Allen scored 18 points to lead Texas (1-1), which was trying to beat a top-ranked team for the first time in program history. Instead, the Longhorns fell to 0-12 against No. 1 teams.
The Longhorns didn't fold, pulling within 60-49 with 10 minutes to go, but Timme sparked a run with five straight points as Gonzaga pushed its advantage to 72-53 and never looked back.
The Longhorns are the highest-ranked opponent to visit the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004. Gonzaga has a 237-15 all-time record in the building. Gonzaga is 4-0 against Texas, with all previous games at neutral sites.
Next up for Gonzaga is a trio of warm-up games before a big showdown against No. 2 UCLA — which won an overtime thriller against No. 4 Villanova on Friday night — on Nov. 23 in Las Vegas.
Texas doesn't have another contest against a currently-ranked opponent until a Jan. 29 home game against No. 18 Tennessee.
Here are some reactions to the game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
