AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Freshman Arterio Morris scored a season-best 25 points in just 18 minutes and No. 7 Texas beat Louisiana-Lafayette 100-72 on Wednesday night for its third straight win without suspended coach Chris Beard.
The Longhorns (10-1) pulled away with a 15-0 push spanning more than five minutes, bridging the first and second halves.
Morris, a reserve whose previous best was 11 points, connected with 9 of 11 shots and made five 3-point baskets against Louisiana-Lafayette. Texas converted 12 of 22 3-pointers.
Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr scored 17 apiece for the Longhorns, whose 100 points were a season-high and their most since a 105-59 victory against Northwestern State on Nov. 10, 2017.
Jordan Brown, a 6-foot-11 forward, led Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) with 20 points.
Texas is undefeated under acting head coach Rodney Terry since Dec. 12, when Beard was suspended indefinitely without pay after his arrest on a felony family violence charge. Beard does not have a court appearance scheduled until mid-January.
The university elevated Terry to acting head coach and have declined to comment on Beard’s case since.
Texas officials are allowing only Terry to speak on behalf of the team. Players were not made available for postgame interviews.
Terry had the Longhorns ready to defend Louisiana-Lafayette behind the 3-point line, a team strength. The Ragin’ Cajuns began the night averaging 8.5 3-point baskets a game with 41% accuracy, ninth-best in the country. They hit just 6 of 19 (31.6%) against Texas.
BIG PICTURE
Louisiana-Lafayette: The Ragin’ Cajuns compiled a 10-1 record before Monday without having played a Top-25 team. The game against Texas was a step up, and they had difficulty defending the Longhorns, who shot a season-best 58%.
Texas: Dylan Disu, a starting forward for the Longhorns, suffered an injured left knee late in the first half. He missed the rest of the game. … The Longhorns are deficient at shooting 3-pointers. Their 30.6% accuracy is well below the national average of 34.2%, but sometimes they heat up. Texas hit 8 of 21 (38%) against Stanford on Sunday before hitting Louisiana-Lafayette with a barrage.
UP NEXT
Louisiana-Lafayette: Visits Coastal Carolina on Dec. 29.
Texas: Hosts Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday.
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