The Sports Xchange
Dec 16, 2017
Dylan Osetkowski scored 22 points and Mohamed Bamba added 14, including 10 in the final six minutes, to lead Texas to a 75-60 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns led just 58-52 before Bamba took charge. Bamba, the 6-foot-11 freshman center who's considered to be an NBA draft lottery pick if he leaves Texas after only one year, scored 12 of the Longhorns' 17 points over a 4 1/2-minute stretch that clinched the game for Texas.
Jacob Young added 10 points for Texas (7-3). Bamba added a game-high nine rebounds and five blocked shots. The Longhorns outshot Louisiana Tech 49 percent to 33.9 percent and had 14 assists to just six for the Bulldogs.
Daquan Bracey led all scorers with 24 points for Louisiana Tech while Derric Jean and Anthony Duruji added 10 points apiece for the Bulldogs.
Texas held the Bulldogs to 29.6 percent shooting in the first half and led by as many as 17 points before settling for a 38-26 advantage at intermission.
Osetkowski paced the Longhorns with 13 points in the first 20 minutes while Duruji led Louisiana Tech with eight points off the bench.
The Bulldogs cut the Texas lead to eight points on a 3-pointer by Jean with 13:39 to play and then to 52-46 on a 3-point play by Bracey with 11:19 remaining.
The Longhorns regained their stride and pushed their lead back to double digits on six consecutive points by Bamba, who was shackled with foul trouble and made the difference as he played with four fouls for the final 12 minutes.