Avery Bradley scores 17 points, freshmen lead No. 2 Texas over Long Beach State 107-74

Bradley, No. 2 Texas beat Long Beach State 107-74

AUSTIN, Texas — Freshman Avery Bradley scored 17 points, leading six Texas players in double figures, and the No. 2 Longhorns routed Long Beach State 107-74 on Monday night.

After two games of some offensive struggles, Texas (7-0) scored a season high, shot 59 percent and had 33 points off 23 turnovers by Long Beach State.

Point guard Dogus Balbay, making just his second start of the season, had a career-high 11 assists.

Stephan Gilling scored 19 points to lead Long Beach State (4-4).

Texas got its best production of the season out of a freshman class considered by many the top group in the country. Among them, Bradley was ranked the top recruit in the class. Jordan Hamilton finished with 13 points and J’Covan Brown scored 13, making three 3-pointers.

Hamilton scored 11 and Bradley scored 10 as Texas shot 61 percent in the first half. Balbay, a junior, provided the early spark with four assists in the first five minutes.

The freshmen hooked up nicely when Hamilton started a fast break with a steal and passed to Brown, who then fired the ball to Bradley in the corner for a 3-pointer and a 44-27 lead.

Brown ended the first half with a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, then a spinning layup at the buzzer to give Texas a 52-37 lead at the break.

Balbay opened the second half by finding Bradley for another 3-pointer, then blocked a 3-point attempt by Larry Anderson.

Senior Damion James, who came in leading Texas in scoring and rebounding this season — he’s averaging a double-double — picked up his third foul less than two minutes into the second and went to the bench. He finished with 14 points but the Texas offense managed just fine without him on this night.

Balbay kept finding creases for nifty passes on assists. Hamilton came back in and immediately forced another turnover, then set up Brown for another 3-pointer and a 62-43 lead.

Texas kept forcing points with defense. A Long Beach State turnover led to Balbay’s 10th assist when he spotted a wide-open Brown on the inbound pass for yet another easy 3-pointer. After another turnover, Hamilton then fed Dexter Pittman for a dunk.