Tre Johnson, Texas Longhorns Scrape Past Saint Joseph's to Win Legends Classic

The Texas Longhorns are 5-1 after wins over Syracuse and Saint Joseph's at the Legends Classic.

Zach Dimmitt | 4 Hours Ago

Nov 16, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Julian Larry (1) looks to pass the ball during the first half against the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

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Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns are heading back to Austin with some early-season tournament hardware in hand.

Tre Johnson battled through another poor shooting night but closed the game out for Texas once again, scoring a game-high 17 points to lead the Longhorns to a 67-58 win over Saint Joseph's at the Legends Classic championship round in Brooklyn Friday night.

Transfer guard Julian Larry sparked the Longhorns late, scoring all 12 of his points in the second half. Arthur Kaluma added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Kadin Shedrick had 10 points and six rebounds.

The Hawks were led by Rasheer Fleming, who stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 20 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals. Xzayvier Brown added 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting.

The Longhorns jumped out to an 11-6 lead after seven early points from Kaluma. St. Joe's started out cold from the field but controlled the game with hard-nosed defense and the occasional press while dominating the offensive glass. This was highlighted by a possession where the Hawks got four consecutive offensive rebounds but only scored one point as a result.

Johnson stayed aggressive on offense for Texas but was off on his shot and was impacted by the on-ball defense of St. Joe's.

Mark, Pope and Johnson all hit a triple for Texas in about a two-minute span ahead of halftime to give the Longhorns their biggest lead at 32-26 but the Hawks responded with a free throw from Haskins 3-pointer from Brown before halftime to cut the lead to 32-30.

The defense from the Hawks ramped up even more, as the Longhorns were stuck in the mud on offense and had little to no ball movement. St. Joe's was hardly much better, but its defense continued to set the tone and eventually swung the momentum.

Larry then hit back-to-back triples as the two teams traded buckets on five straight possessions. Consecutive dunks from Ajogbor and Fleming but the Hawks in front 50-46 with 8:25 to play, but Larry continued to take over. He hit 1,000 career points with a driving layup before finding Kaluma for a corner triple to put Texas back in front at 51-50.

It didn't stop there for Larry, who found a cutting Shedrick for a dunk before diving on a loose ball down at the other end to secure possession for Texas, which had built a 55-52 lead with 3:13 left. The Longhorns used the momentum to put together an 8-0 run, which essentially sealed the win in a game where scoring felt hard to come by.

Johnson then closed the game out with six points in the final 4:11 of action, including a pullup jumper at the foul line to put Texas up 63-55 with 1:19 left.

Texas will host Delaware State on Nov. 29.