Tre Johnson Shines Again as Texas Longhorns Steamroll Chicago State

Texas Longhorns men's basketball cruised to a win over the Chicago State Cougars to move to 2-1.

Zach Dimmitt | Nov 12, 2024

Nov 12, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson (20) dunks during the first half against Chicago State Cougars at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

AUSTIN -- Texas Longhorns men's basketball picked up its second win of the season in dominant fashion at the Moody Center Tuesday, smothering the Chicago State Cougars from start to finish for a 105-58 victory.

True freshman guard Tre Johnson once again led the way with 19 points, marking the third straight games he's paced the team in scoring. He was one of five Longhorns in double figures, joining Arthur Kaluma (15 points, eight rebounds), Kadin Shedrick (12 points), Julian Larry (10 points, four assists) and Ze'Rik Onyema (18 points, six rebounds).

Texas held Chicago State to 30 percent shooting while finishing with 19 points off turnovers. The Longhorns also went 24 of 33 from the foul line and had a 50-18 edge for points in the paint.

"I definitely like our mindset," Texas head coach Rodney Terry said after the game. "We've worked really hard the last couple days on our man-to-man defense ... We placed a heavy emphasis on that. I want to see us come out and get lost playing really hard on defense."

For the Cougars, guards Jalen Forrest and Matthew Robinson both led the way with 14 points rebounds. Saxby Sunderland added 10 points of his own.

Texas jumped out to a 12-0 behind four early points from Shedrick and triples from both Chendall Weaver (seven points, nine rebounds) and Johnson.

This was a sign of things to come. The Longhorns continued to have hounding defense in the paint and had a clear emphasis on pushing the ball quickly down the floor, which led to a flurry of dunks and easy buckets as Chicago State's defense was unable to set up in the halfcourt.

Texas then had a 13-0 run that was highlighted by a alley-opp off the glass from Jordan Pope to Johnson, who then made a triple on the next possession to extend the lead to 47-11 with 4:11 left in the half.

Shedrick nearly put a bow on a dominant first half with a putback dunk at the buzzer, but officials overturned it upon review. Still, Texas headed into halftime with a 50-18 lead over the Cougars.

At the half, Johnson led the way with 10 points while Shedrick had nine points. Kaluma had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. The Longhorns had 12 fastbreak points in the first half and 13 points off eight Chicago State turnovers.

The dominance continued to start the second half. Weaver hit a triple on Texas' first possession before the Longhorns continued adding to the lead with constant trips to the foul line.

Johnson then hit back-to-back triples to extend the league to 79-31 with 11 minutes to play. At this point, the Longhorns were just playing pick-up out there before continuing to cruise their way to the finish line. Onyema got extensive action late in the game and had arguably his best performance as a Longhorn.

The Longhorns will host Mississippi Valley State on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT.