It certainly wasn’t pretty, but it still was a win — the 300th win at Texas for Coach Rick Barnes, in fact. But in a game where the two teams combined for more turnovers than field goals, it sometimes felt more like an episode of Benny Hill than a Division I collegiate basketball game.

Texas (6-1) and Lamar (4-3) had a combined 44 turnovers on the night, but it was the Longhorns who finally found an offensive rhythm. While the Cardinals held a six-point lead over the Longhorns five minutes into the game, Texas turned up the defensive pressure and ran away with it. Over the ensuing 18 minutes of basketball, the Longhorns outscored the erratic Cardinals by a 43-16 margin and never looked back. Texas cruised the rest of the way, enjoying an easy 76-55 win in front of 5,473 burnt-orange faithful.

What looked good

The Texas defense was stellar for most of the night. The Longhorns held Lamar to just 25.7% shooting from the field, giving the Cardinals an offensive efficiency of just 0.661 points per possession. Texas denied the perimeter, shoring up what had been a glaring weakness against Rice just days before. As a result, Lamar was only 1-of-9 from behind the arc.

Often, the baskets that the Cardinals did get were a result of the Longhorns actually overplaying on defense. But in a game where Texas forced 21 turnovers and blocked nine shots, those few easy looks were a fair trade-off for the active, suffocating D.

Matt Hill had three of those blocks, as he performed admirably off the bench for 19 minutes. The second half was initially a whistle-fest, with the referees calling 15 fouls in less than eight minutes of action. As a result, Gary Johnson was saddled with foul trouble and Hill was needed to plug the gap. In addition to his three blocks, Matt added six boards and five points. While many teams remaining on the Texas schedule will have bigger frontcourts than the Cardinals, the performance from Hill was promising.

Alexis Wangmene was also bothered by fouls, including one offensive one that looked very much like a Zinedine Zidane-style flop by Lamar’s Devon Lamb from our vantage point. But in the seven minutes that Wangmene did manage to stay on the floor, his defense was much better than in weeks past. He established position, stayed tall, and managed to recover quickly when he was out of the play. Alexis was still outworked for rebounds by a smaller Lamar team, but it was encouraging to see the strides he had made defensively.

On offense, Cory Joseph continued his hot streak, posting a new career high for the second-straight game. He knocked down three of his six long-range attempts as he chalked up 16 points, and just missed a double-double by grabbing nine defensive boards. In the Rice and Lamar games, Joseph shot 58.3% from behind the arc and logged 30 total points.

Tying Joseph’s 16-point output was sophomore star Jordan Hamilton. Against Rice, Hamilton was one of the few Longhorns probing the Owl zone, but he often ran into resistance near the lane and missed the challenged shots he took.

On Wednesday night, Hamilton looked to pass when the shots weren’t there. Unfortunately, his teammates usually weren’t ready for the ball, and the Longhorns fumbled away a few passes that would’ve resulted in easy layups. In the post-game presser, Barnes also praised Hamilton’s defensive play, saying that it was all the sophomore wanted to work on in the previous two days of practice.

Tristan Thompson also quietly posted some good numbers, earning his second career double-double with an 11-point, 13-rebound performance. Perhaps more importantly, Thompson only had to play 31 minutes in the win. The freshman logged 80 minutes in back-to-back games in New York, and will likely be called on for a ton of minutes in tough games once conference play rolls around. These glorified exhibitions are a perfect opportunity to get Thompson some game-speed reps without overworking him.

What needs work

The most glaring issue for the Longhorns was once again an inability to hang on to the basketball. Texas turned it over 23 times, giving the team a turnover rate of 27.6%, or more than one miscue in every four possessions. Most frustrating was the fact that many of the Longhorn turnovers came from bobbling passes or throwing it directly past an oblivious teammate and into the stands. Joseph, Jai Lucas, and J’Covan Brown accounted for 14 of the Texas turnovers, while posting just eight assists between them.

In addition, the free throw rollercoaster continued against Lamer. The Longhorns started out wonderfully, knocking down 11 of 15 attempts in the first half. But yet again the charity-stripe demons resurfaced, as Texas posted a 12-for-22 mark in the final twenty. The main culprit was Thompson, who finished a disappointing 5-of-11 at the line. If the freshman continues to struggle with his free throws, opponents will simply not allow him any easy baskets inside. He’s going to have to find his stroke once again, because opposing frontcourts are going to make him earn those points.

Next up: vs. Southern Cal (4-4); Sunday, 9:30 P.M. CT