No. 2 Texas beats Washington 92-68 (Nov 25, 2017)
LAS VEGAS (AP) For a game and about a quarter, the Texas Longhorns seemed to be in a slow cruise control at the Las Vegas Shootout.
Finally, the Longhorns turned it on to a higher gear against Washington on Saturday and showed why they are ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Texas used a 20-0 first-half run as the Longhorns pulled away in a 92-68 victory at the South Point Arena.
Junior Jatarie White was 10 of 12 from the field and scored 24 points along with seven rebounds to lead Texas (5-0). Brooke McCarty added 15 points, six rebounds and six assists as the Longhorns shot 57 percent from the field.
On Friday, the Longhorns defeated LSU, but only by a 75-66 margin.
''I thought our attention to detail was better today,'' said Texas coach Karen Aston, whose team never trailed. ''Playing people's tendencies, and paying attention to the detail of the scouting reports was better. We got a little lax in the fourth quarter, but I wanted those young kids in the game because they can get some teaching lessons. They're talented and they need to learn in the moment.''
The only negative for the Longhorns Saturday was 20 turnovers, 12 in the first half.
''That's too many,'' Aston said. ''I thought in the first half it took us a while to adjust to their playing style. I thought we did way better in the second half.''
Lashann Higgs and Alecia Sutton each had 10 points for the Longhorns.
Amber Melgoza led Washington (2-3) with 12 points. Alexis Griggsby added 10 points, while Hannah Johnson had nine points and five rebounds for the Huskies.
''(Texas is) talented,'' Washington coach Jody Wynn said. ''It's just not Ariel Atkins and (Brooke) McCarty. McCarty is the fastest guard I've ever coached against. White was really big and strong in there. They're deep.''
For the first 4 minutes, the Huskies kept it close.
''I thought we really got good looks early,'' Wynn said. ''We had a couple 3s that just didn't go down. If we make a couple 3s, it could give us some confidence. We got in some foul trouble. In the first half, we had four players with two fouls and we had to sit them.''
BIG PICTURE
Texas: After a home game against Louisiana Tech this Thursday, Texas may get tested as it travels to face two SEC teams in Georgia and Tennessee on back-to-back Sundays in early December.
Washington: This week, the Huskies played two top 10 teams with no success, the other was at No. 9 Ohio State last Sunday. The Huskies split their two games at the Shootout this weekend, escaping on Friday with a 67-64 win over Creighton.
TURNING POINT: After leading 10-9, the Longhorns went on a 20-0 run over the next 7:12. The lead eventually grew to 32 points early in the fourth quarter.
STATS OF THE NIGHT: From the field, the Longhorns shot 35 of 61. Meanwhile, the Huskies were 26 of 66 (39 percent). Texas outscored the Huskies 44-30 in the paint. The Longhorns had 26 assists to the Huskies' 16.
LAS VEGAS WEEKEND: Also at the shootout was No. 5 UCLA. But Texas and UCLA agreed not to meet. UCLA and Washington also did not meet, due to two Pac-12 conference meetings. Each team played two games on Friday and Saturday.
SERIES HISTORY: The series is now 3-3. This was their first meeting since Dec. 1997, when the Huskies won in Seattle.
UP NEXT:
Texas: The Longhorns host Louisiana Tech on Thursday.
Washington: The Huskies travel to Idaho.
