Jordan Pope puts up 42 as Texas blasts New Orleans

Field Level Media|published: Thu 19th December, 22:17 2024

Dec 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Nic Codie (10) grabs a rebound over New Orleans forward Luke Davis (20) during the first half at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Jordan Pope scored a career-high 42 points, including eight straight that blew open the game in the middle of the second half, as Texas rolled to a 98-62 win over New Orleans on Thursday in Austin, Texas.

The Longhorns (10-2) led by 16 points at halftime and were up 60-47 eight minutes into the second half. Pope, an Oregon State transfer, then hit two 3-pointers and a reverse layup on three consecutive possessions to dispel any notion of a comeback by New Orleans.

Pope, whose season high before Thursday was 17 points, finished 15 of 21 from the floor, including an 8-of-12 showing from beyond the 3-point arc.

Arthur Kaluma added 15 points for Texas while Chendall Weaver had 12. The Longhorns led by as many as 44 points en route to their third straight win. Texas played for the second consecutive game without star freshman guard Tre Johnson, who is nursing a sore right hip.

Dae Dae Hunter paced the Privateers (2-8) with 16 points. Jah Short had 15, James White scored 14 and MJ Thomas hit for 11 for New Orleans, which took its fourth loss in a row.

The Longhorns scored the game's first 16 points over 6 1/2 minutes. The strong opening run featured eight points from Kaluma and was capped by a pair of free throws by Devon Pryor.

New Orleans answered, forging a 12-2 run that was punctuated by a 3-pointer by Hunter with 8:30 to play in the first half. Texas again found its stride, stoking its advantage to 18 points on Pope's 3-pointer with 3:28 remaining before the break.

Another Pope basket from deep expanded the margin to 22 points. Short's 3-pointer at the buzzer allowed the Privateers to draw to within 44-28 entering halftime.

Pope led the Longhorns with 15 points before halftime while Kaluma added 13. Texas outshot the Privateers 50 percent to 28.1 percent over the first 20 minutes.

Short paced New Orleans with 12 points and Hunter added 10 before intermission. The rest of the Privateers scored just six points in the half while going a combined 1-for-21 from the floor.

--Field Level Media

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