NCAA Game Summary - Wake Forest at Texas

Austin, TX (Basketball News) - P.J. Tucker scored 21 points and Brandon Mouton added 17, as 18th-ranked Texas handed No. 4 Wake Forest its first loss of the season, 94-81, at the Frank Erwin Center.

Brian Boddicker posted 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (10-2), who have won five straight overall and ran their homecourt winning streak to 24 games.

Royal Ivey and Edgar Moreno each netted 10 for Texas, which shot 30-of-58 for the game (52 percent) and made 9-of-23 from three-point range (39 percent).

"My teammates just did a great job playing as a team, everyone did their job and we had a great win tonight," said Mouton.

The win was the most impressive victory of the season for Texas, which lost to Duke and Arizona in its other two games against top ten opponents this year.

Justin Gray had 27 points and Trent Strickland scored a career-high 22 for the Demon Deacons (11-1), who fell from the ranks of the unbeatens with their first loss of the season.

The two teams put on the offensive show that was expected and combined for 20 three-point shots, including 11 by the Demon Deacons. The Longhorns came into the game leading the country averaging 89.6 points per game, while Wake Forest was third in the nation posting 88.3 points per contest.

Wake Forest jumped out to a 13-8 lead less than four minutes into the game, but the Longhorns came roaring back courtesy of a 9-0 run, highlighted by five points from Boddicker. Moreno’s jumper with 12:33 left in the half culminated the surge and gave Texas a 17-13 edge.

The Longhorns built their lead to 23-18 midway through the first half, but Wake Forest responded with five straight points to knot the score at 23-23. However, Texas then scored seven of the next nine points, capped by Mouton’s three-pointer to seize a 30-25 cushion with 7:47 left in the half.

Texas’ lead was 34-30 moments later before it reeled off an 8-0 spurt. Kenny Taylor’s three-pointer from the right wing gave the Longhorns a 12-point advantage with 3:55 left in the opening stanza and Mouton’s three just under two minutes later staked Texas to a 50-36 lead.

The Longhorns, who led by as many as 16 in the first half, carried a 52-39 lead into the intermission.

Mouton scored 12 points and Taylor added nine as Texas made 18-of-30 shots from the field (60 percent) and 8-of-13 from three-point range (62 percent) in the opening 20 minutes. Gray had 13 and Strickland added 12 points for the Demon Deacons, who connected on 42 percent of their shots (13-of-31) and 39 percent from behind the arc (5-of-13).

Wake Forest scored six straight points to begin the second half to cut its deficit to 52-45, and got within 56-51 moments later.

Texas then went ahead 62-53 on Moreno’s layup with 12:56 left in the game. But five straight points, capped by Strickland’s layup, brought the Demon Deacons within four.

The Longhorns though responded with a 5-0 run to push their cushion to nine at 67-58. Boddicker’s two free throws with 7:55 remaining put them ahead 73-62.

Texas twice built a 12-point lead, but Wake Forest pulled within 80-72 on Taron Downey’s three-pointer with 3:28 to play.

However, the Demon Deacons never seriously threatened again.

Chris Paul’s long three-point shot with 1:39 left in the game got Wake Forest within 85-78, but Texas scored seven straight points, capped by Tucker’s emphatic one-handed dunk, to seal the win.