Vokietaitis leads No. 7 Texas past Gardner-Webb 98-50

Matas Vokietaitis scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds as No. 7 Texas beat Gardner-Webb 98-50 in Austin on Nov. 5, the Associated Press reported. Texas improved to 2-0, while Gardner-Webb fell to 0-2. Vokietaitis made six of eight shots in 20 minutes. He had made 15 of 17 field-goal attempts across Texas’s first two games, according to the AP.

Texas’s first-half run created a 34-point lead

Texas closed the first half with a 21-0 run and led 54-20 at halftime, according to the AP and the Austin American-Statesman. Gardner-Webb then went 12 minutes spanning the halves without a field goal; Texas scored 33-2 during that stretch. The Longhorns finished with a 54-10 advantage in points in the paint and scored 28 fast-break points, the AP reported.

Texas’s new roster and Gardner-Webb’s early-season trips

Texas coach Sean Miller said he wanted to learn more about a roster with 11 new players, including six freshmen and five transfers, the Statesman reported. Freshmen Joe Sterling and Marcus Spears Jr. each scored 13 points. The Statesman also reported that TCU transfer David Punch scored 10 points and had six rebounds, with all his points coming in the first half. The reports differ on Isaiah Johnson’s scoring total.

Gardner-Webb opened its season with road games at UConn and Texas. Coach Jeremy Luther said those early-season trips help the university financially, adding that teams around the country do the same, according to the Statesman. The AP reported that Mikhail Pocknett and Jamias Ferere led Gardner-Webb against Texas with 12 points apiece.

The AP listed Gardner-Webb’s next game as a home matchup with Erskine on Wednesday and Texas’s next game as a home matchup with Grambling State on Monday.