Bishop's 16 leads No. 2 Texas over Arkansas-Pine Bluff 88-43
AP
Dec 10, 2022
AUSTIN, Texas Longhorns (AP) Christian Bishop scored 16 points off the bench and No. 2 Texas held Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions to 13 points in the second half while coasting to an 88-43 win Saturday.
Texas rose to its highest ranking in more than a decade after a 6-0 start before losing in overtime to No. 17 Illinois earlier in the week in New York City, its first game out of its home state. The Longhorns easily overmatched the Golden Lions in their return home.
Freshman Dillon Mitchell scored 13 points for Texas (7-1), most of them coming on dunks. Brock Cunningham scored a career-high 13 on 5-of-5 shooting, which included three 3-pointers. Texas' top three scorers were 18-of-22 shooting.
''The first half Brock played and (Bishop) played was elite,'' Texas coach Chris Beard said.
Bishop, who transferred from Creighton before last season, passed the 1,000-point mark for his career and now has 1,012. He was a starter for much of last season but has come off the bench in every game this season.
''I've been playing basketball for a really long time now,'' Bishop said. ''It's my fifth year, so if finally happened.''
Chris Greene scored 14 for Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-8), which traded baskets with the Longhorns early on, when the game had nine lead changes in the first six minutes. The Golden Lions got within 21-19 when Trejon Ware swished a 3-pointer.
Texas seized control with a 21-6 run over the final eight minutes of the half that started with a pair of baskets from Bishop, a tomahawk dunk by Mitchell and a 3-pointer from Arterio Morris.
Cunningham, who normally is a defensive stopper off the bench and returned for a final season as a graduate student, had a surprising scoring burst in the first half with 3-pointers.
Texas turned up the defense to start the second half, holding Pine Bluff to a single basket over the first five minutes. Marcus Carr hit a 3-pointer and Dylan Disu's layup pushed the lead to 56-32.
The Longhorns kept up the pressure defensively, consistently forcing turnovers and fast-break points. The Longhorns scored 24 points off 22 Pine Bluff turnovers. Mitchell's breakaway dunk off a steal by Carr made it 69-41 with 8 minutes to play.
''We knew it was going to be a tough challenge to score on these guys,'' Pine Bluff coach Solomon Bozeman said. ''Their defense is on a different level.''
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas-Pine Bluff: The Golden Lions have almost finished a brutal early season portion of their schedule that included three Big 12 opponents and three more from the Big Ten and the SEC. That gauntlet should have them ready to face their Southwestern Conference schedule that starts in January.
Texas: Mitchell had a highlight-reel game, with 6-of-7 shooting that included five dunks from the 6-foot-8 forward who was one of highest-rated recruits in the country coming out of high school. Troubling, though, is another subpar game from Disu. The starting forward has just seven points and two rebounds in the last two games.
HONORING BLACKLOCK
The game was billed as the Jimmy Blacklock Classic in tribute to honor the first Black basketball player recruited at Texas. Blacklock led the Longhorns in scoring in 1970-71 and was team captain the next season when Texas won the Southwest Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. He joined the Harlem Globetrotters in 1974 and played with them until 1987.
POLL POSITION
Texas can expect to drop in the rankings after the loss to Illinois, but it likely won't be far. The Longhorns still have an impressive early season resume, with wins over Gonzaga and Creighton. Their best wins have come at home and the Longhorns don't have to leave the state again until starting Big 12 play on the road at Oklahoma on Dec. 31.
UP NEXT
Arkansas-Pine Bluff plays at Minnesota on Wednesday.
Texas hosts Rice on Monday night.
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1st Half
UAPB
Golden Lions
30
TEX
Longhorns
46
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
Ishmael Plet vs. Dillon Mitchell (Longhorns gains possession)
19:36
+2
Dillon Mitchell makes two point dunk (Dylan Disu assists)
0-2
19:20
+3
Chris Greene makes three point jump shot (Kylen Milton assists)
3-2
18:48
+2
Timmy Allen makes two point jump shot
3-4
18:37
Kylen Milton turnover (lost ball)
18:25
Marcus Carr misses three point jump shot
18:23
Kylen Milton defensive rebound
18:15
Brahm Harris misses two point layup
18:13
Ishmael Plet offensive rebound
18:05
+2
Shaun Doss makes two point jump shot
5-4
17:41
+2
Dillon Mitchell makes two point dunk (Marcus Carr assists)
5-6
17:25
+3
Kylen Milton makes three point jump shot (Shaun Doss assists)
8-6
17:04
+3
Tyrese Hunter makes three point jump shot (Dylan Disu assists)
8-9
16:45
Dillon Mitchell personal foul (Ishmael Plet draws the foul)
16:43
+2
Shaun Doss makes two point layup
10-9
16:21
Tyrese Hunter turnover (bad pass)
16:00
Shaun Doss misses two point jump shot
15:58
Christian Bishop defensive rebound
15:49
+2
Christian Bishop makes two point layup
10-11
15:33
Zach Reinhart misses three point jump shot
15:31
Brahm Harris offensive rebound
15:25
+3
Kylen Milton makes three point jump shot (Brahm Harris assists)
13-11
15:15
Timmy Allen turnover (bad pass)
15:15
TV timeout
15:03
Golden Lions turnover (10-second violation)
14:56
Orion Virden shooting foul (Marcus Carr draws the foul)
14:56
+1
Marcus Carr makes regular free throw 1 of 2
13-12
14:56
+1
Marcus Carr makes regular free throw 2 of 2
13-13
14:40
Zach Reinhart turnover (back court violation)
14:30
Arterio Morris misses three point jump shot
14:28
Brahm Harris defensive rebound
14:19
Brahm Harris misses two point layup
14:17
Arterio Morris defensive rebound
14:08
Arterio Morris turnover (traveling)
13:59
+3
Chris Greene makes three point jump shot (Kylen Milton assists)
16-13
13:28
+3
Brock Cunningham makes three point jump shot (Sir'Jabari Rice assists)
16-16
13:09
Chris Greene misses two point layup
13:07
Christian Bishop defensive rebound
12:59
Tyrese Hunter misses two point jump shot
12:57
Kylen Milton defensive rebound
12:40
Chris Greene misses three point jump shot
12:38
Christian Bishop defensive rebound
12:31
+2
Brock Cunningham makes two point layup (Tyrese Hunter assists)
16-18
12:28
Golden Lions 30 second timeout
12:28
TV timeout
11:59
Shaun Doss misses two point jump shot
11:57
Timmy Allen defensive rebound
11:41
+3
Sir'Jabari Rice makes three point jump shot (Timmy Allen assists)