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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Texas 85, Eastern Washington 52
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 17, 2016
Where: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Officials: # Michael Greenstein, # Tom O'Neill, # Tony Padilla
Attendance: 9072

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas' combination of youth, talent and wave after wave of quality depth should only get more polished and better focused as the season progresses, an aspect that should be garnering the attention of its future opponents.

The Longhorns showcased all three of those facets Thursday when reserve guard/forward Tevin Mack poured in 19 points to lead four players in double-figure scoring as No. 23 Texas steamrolled Eastern Washington 85-52 at the Frank Erwin Center in the regional round of the Legends Classic.

Eight teams from across the nation are competing in the event. Texas, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Colorado are serving as regional hosts, and those four squads automatically advance to the event's championship rounds on Monday and Tuesday at Barclays Center in New York.

Texas rocked Eastern Washington with a 15-4 run to begin the second half, pushing what had been a 15-point lead at intermission to a 54-28 advantage with 15:26 to play. The Longhorns stretched the lead to as much as 36 points in the final minutes as they emptied their bench and Eastern Washington ran out of gas.

"In a game like tonight we had some good moments but we have to get better," Texas coach Shaka Smart said. "Our guys played with good aggressiveness, but not it's time to find the balance between being aggressive and being sound. There are a lot of positives from this game but there is plenty of room to grow. We have players that are willing to do what it takes to be better and that's important."

The Longhorns (3-0) outshot Eastern Washington 45.2 percent to 36.1 percent and turned 16 Eagles turnovers into 16 points. Texas owned a 42-12 advantage in bench scoring, had 17 assists to Eastern Washington's five and outrebounded the Eagles 44-31.

Guard Andrew Jones added 17 points off the bench for Texas. Guard Kerwin Roach Jr. hit for 11 points and guards Kendal Yancy and Eric Davis Jr. scored 10 points each for the Longhorns.

"We are pretty confident and in a good place, we just need to keep improving," Yancy said. "We had a lot of errors in our first game (a 78-73 victory over Incarnate Word), and we focused on fixing them. We responded from that first game and now we're flying around, gaining some confidence."

Forward Bogdan Bliznyuk paced Eastern Washington (1-2) with 22 points. Forward Jacob Wiley added 10 points for the Eagles before fouling out midway through the second half trying to keep up with the Longhorns' quick but strong frontcourt.

"Texas is a very good, athletic, well-coached team," Eastern Washington coach Jim Hayford said. "We hoped we could expose their youth and inexperience but instead they exposed ours. We are a little better than we played tonight, but Texas' length and overall talent was just too much for us to contend with."

Texas forged a 39-24 lead at intermission as Jones scored 12 points in nine minutes of court time and Roach added nine on 4-for-6 shooting. The Longhorns forced the Eagles into 11 turnovers in the first half, two of those on five-second calls when they couldn't inbound the ball in time.

The Longhorns were up 13-11 before an 11-0 run created a little separation from the Eagles. Texas built a 27-15 lead with 7:22 to play in the first half on the strength of 5-for-11 shooting from 3-point range and a balanced attack.

Eastern Washington had difficulty dealing with the Longhorns' length and physicality as Bliznyuk and Wiley each picked up three fouls in the half trying to keep Texas out of the paint.

"We don't see athletes in the Big Sky Conference like we saw tonight," Hayford said. "Texas is extremely athletic and they are all playing well together very early in the season, which was a bit of a surprise. You could hear them talking to each other on the court, working through what we were trying to do to them. I'm very impressed with the basketball culture coach Smart has developed here."

NOTES: Texas senior F Shaquille Cleare shed more than 30 pounds during the summer and early fall and reduced his body fat to less than 8 percent entering the 2016-17 season. ... Eastern Washington and Texas never played previously. ... The Eagles fell to 0-9 against the Big 12 Conference. The last time Eastern Washington played a school from the Big 12 was Dec. 18, 2010, when the it lost at Nebraska 72-52. ... During fall testing, Texas sophomore G Kerwin Roach recorded a 47.5-inch vertical jump. ... Eastern Washington slipped to 1-23 versus nationally ranked teams. The Eagles' game against Texas was their first against a ranked team since they fell at No. 17 Washington on Dec. 14, 2014. ... Gone from Texas' 2015-16 team are six upperclassmen who combined to play a total of 745 games (459 starts).
Top Game Performances
 
Eastern Washington   Texas
Bogdan Bliznyuk 22 Scoring Tevin Mack 19
Bogdan Bliznyuk 3 Assists Jarrett Allen 4
Bogdan Bliznyuk 5 Rebounds Jarrett Allen 9
Geremy McKay 2 Free Throws Made Jarrett Allen 4
Julian Harrell 1 Steals Andrew Jones 3
Geremy McKay 1 Blocks James Banks 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Eastern Washington 52 36.1 3-21 5-6 6 29 3 3 16
Texas 85 45.2 11-29 18-25 17 38 6 6 11