AUSTIN – Non-conference play ended for the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team with a 97-72 loss at the Moody Center against the No. 6 ranked Texas Longhorns on Tuesday night.
 
The Longhorns, who are ranked No. 6 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll, improve to 11-1 on the season and the Lions fall to 4-10. This was the first matchup between the two teams since 1962 and Texas has won all six meetings.
 
Tommie Lewis (Vero Beach, Fla.) shot a perfect 6 for 6 from the field, three for three from the distance, and a perfect 4 for 4 from the free-throw line for 19 points. C.J. Roberts led the way with 20 points.
 
The Longhorns scored the first points of the game, but the Lions' Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) drilled a second-chance three-pointer to give the Lions a 3-2 lead. Texas scored the next nine as the Lions called their first timeout of the game with 17:11 left in the first half.
 
Following the timeout, the Lions outscored the Longhorns, 11-3, including a 9-0 run to tie the game at 14 with a layup by Kalen Williams (Augusta, Ga.). An 11-2 run on the opposite end by the Longhorns gave them a nine-point lead and they led by as much as 11 in the first half.
 
Texas' Marcus Carr shot 11 for 15 and made eight of 11 three-pointers in the first half for 33 points, which tied the school record and his eight three-pointers set a new school record for most made shots from outside-the-arc in a half. He made 10 three-pointers in the game to tie the school record.  
 
For the Lions in the first half, Williams and C.J. Roberts (Irving – Richland) had team-leading six points, while Demonia had five, Luka Vasic (Pirot, Serbia) had four. Vasic and Jerome Brewer, Jr. (Camden, N.J.) grabbed three rebounds each in the first half.
 
The Lions started the second half shooting 8 for 12 and were outscored by just two points through the first 11 minutes of the second half. Roberts scored 14 in the second half, as did Lewis.
 
The largest lead of the night for Texas of 32 came at the 4:52 mark of the second half.
 
Williams and Demonia finished with 10 points each and Lewis led the team with four rebounds. Alonzo Dodd (St. Paul, Minn.) totaled four assists.



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Southland Conference begins on Saturday for the Lions, who host UIW in their first SLC game ever at 4:30 p.m. in the Field House. Admission for that game is free.