Austin, Texas – Redshirt junior
Sam Burmeister's three-pointer at the top of the key gave UIW men's basketball a one-point lead with 2:33 left in regulation, but No. 21 Texas scored eight unanswered points and escaped with a 78-73 win over the Cardinals before over 10,000 fans at the Erwin Center Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UIW (0-1), having big wins the last couple of years over the likes of St. John's, Nebraska, and Princeton, was not fazed by the 21st-ranked team in the country, scoring the game's first five points. Leading 8-4 with 15:32 left in the first half, Texas (1-0) used a 12-0 run to take a 16-8 advantage with 12:15 remaining.
The Longhorns led by as many as 18 early in the second half before UIW used a 20-7 run over a span of six minutes to cut the UT deficit to five, 58-53. UIW came as close as two on a handful of occasions in the final five minutes before Burmeister sent the Cardinal bench into pandemonium with his lead-changing triple. But the Longhorns scored the game's next eight points to take a 74-67 lead with 21 seconds left.
LEADERS
Junior
Shawn Johnson scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half to lead all scorers. He shot 7-of-14 from the floor, 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, and made all six of his free throws. He nearly registered a double-double with a team-best nine rebounds. Burmeister chipped in with 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Tyler Singleton scored nine and
Jalin Hart dropped eight in his Cardinal debut. As a team, UIW shot 34 percent from the floor.
Texas had five scorers in double figures, led by Kendal Yancy with 19. Eric Davis, Jr. posted 16, and both Andrew Jones and Jacob Young added 10. Jarrett Allen registered a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. As a team, the Longhorns shot 47 percent from the floor.
QUOTES
OVERALL THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH KEN BURMEISTER
"It was a good game, but we lost. We had the lead, one point, kind of acting like it was a 10-point lead, made some unforced turnovers, and we didn't get a shot. I'm happy for the guys who came back. Their [Texas] program is one that will be nationally recognized as on the up-and-up."
ON THE UPCOMING SEASON
"We have to move on. We have a tough game Tuesday. It's one game and we've got a lot of games left. We have to get better. We have to have better point guard play at the end. We just went out of character. We have very good point guards, but out of character we didn't execute."
SHAWN JOHNSON ON TAKING THE LEAD
"After we took the lead, I think we, as a team, let it get to our head. I made a silly turnover, another player made a silly turnover, and we played out of our character. We should have taken better shots, better drives, and it just fell out of our hands."
SAM BURMEISTER ON THE GAME
"We had a chance to win the game. That was it. I missed some free throws, but all we can ask is that we give ourselves a chance to win, and we did that. Unfortunately, we weren't able to come up on top."
UP NEXT
UIW hosts St. Edward's in its home opener Tuesday night at 7 p.m. from the McDermott Convocation Center.
STAY TUNED
The Cardinals host Howard Payne on Monday, November 21 and Rice on Saturday, November 26.
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.
