Kadin Shedrick triggers offensive avalanche as Longhorns finish long travel week with road win over LSU Tigers
Nobody likes to get posterized, especially on the road. But there wasn’t much Kadin Shedrick could do when LSU’s Dji Bailey came storming down the lane, took flight and threw down a thunderous dunk on the Texas senior.
Bailey let him know about it, too, mean-mugging for a few steps before going the other way.
Was this a huge moment for ESPN’s “SportsCenter”? Absolutely. Was this a huge moment in Saturday’s game? That dunk made it 4-4.
Shedrick wasn’t quaking in his Nikes. He scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds before halftime. After the break, he scored eight more and made two steals.
It turned into Shedrick’s best outing of the season as Texas ran away with an 89-58 win over LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La. The Longhorns put up such an offensive onslaught, Shedrick almost didn’t get his 10th rebound in time.
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“They told me at halftime to go get my double-double,” Shedrick said. “I had nine rebounds with, like, 12 minutes left, and it felt like everything was going in. I was running to the glass every time. Nic (Codie) was able to keep a ball live. I was able to run it down and get the board. Always feels good.”
Shedrick finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. It was his second double-double of the season but first in SEC play.
A bunch of Longhorns had terrific stat lines. Tre Johnson had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting with five assists. Tramon Mark had a season-high 18 himself on 7-of-12 shooting — 16 of those in the second half while shutting down LSU scoring machine Camryn Carter (six points, 2-of-7 shooting). Arthur Kaluma had 10 points with five rebounds.
“You know we really challenged the guys at halftime to trust the process,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “I mean, we’ve been getting better the last three weeks of the season, both offensively and defensively, we just need to put together a 40-minute game to where we competed the entire time.”
The Longhorns (15-7, 4-5 SEC) shot 56.3%, their highest total in league play. The Tigers (12-9, 1-7) shot 45% overall but went 2-for-15 from 3-point range.
It was a great way for Texas to end a relatively long, somewhat miserable week.
The Horns couldn’t make a quick escape out of Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday night with fog grounding their plane. They had to spend an extra night on the road, so the decision was made to just go straight to Baton Rouge.
Meanwhile, Terry was battling the flu and stayed away from the players until his fever broke.
At least Texas is set up to have a good February. Terry’s club gets Arkansas at home Wednesday and then it’s off to Vanderbilt next Saturday. UT will then host Alabama (Feb. 11) and Kentucky (Feb. 15).
“We’ve been out on this road for a whole week,” Terry said, “so the boys and ourselves are ready to get back to Austin.”
