Texas' Matas Vokietaitis Leads Longhorns to Strong 2-0 Start

The Texas Longhorns began the college basketball season this week winning their second game of the year, a 98-50 beatdown of Gardner-Webb, on Thursday to improve to 2-0.

Big man Matas Vokietaitis, the only returning Longhorn to contribute in Sean Miller's first season, celebrated his 22nd birthday on Thursday and led the team in scoring with 16 points.

The 7-foot Lithuanian is off to an efficient start to the year. Through two games, Vokietaitis is 15 for 17 from the field. In the season opener, he shot a perfect 9-for-9 for 22 points. Against the Runnin' Bulldogs, Vokietaitis poured in 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

The lopsided score, which featured No. 7-ranked Texas going on a 33-2 run overlapping the first and second halves, allowed Miller to test out more than just his starting lineup.

All five starters scored in double figures next to Vokietaitis, and freshmen Marcus Spears Jr. and Joe Sterling led the way off the bench with 13 apiece.

The Longhorns shot 61 percent as a team and forced Gardner-Webb into 23 turnovers.

READ MORE: Texas Loses Star Offensive Piece For the Season

Miller pointed to Elyjah Freeman during his postgame media availability as a player who impacted the game in a variety of ways.

"One of the things we're talking to him about is just really embracing the versatility role," the coach said. "He's a player on our team that can check a box in virtually every area."

Freeman, a sophomore transfer from Auburn, had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists to go with a steal and a block.

"If you think about his impact on the game, it wasn't just one thing," Miller said. "When you have a player like that, he makes everyone around him better. I thought he took a big step from Game 1 to Game 2, learning the role that he has and how important he is to our team."

Texas's defensive performance is what has the Longhorns on an upward trajectory in Miller's eyes.

"We talked about being more aggressive, pressuring the ball more and embracing that side of the ball," he said. "I like where we're at; I think we're off to a good start, and most importantly, the path that we're on defensively is the right path to where we want to be."

Texas continues it's seven-game home stand to start the year by hosting Grambling on Nov. 9.