AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Longhorns men's basketball team hosted its first regular-season men's basketball game played inside Gregory Gym since a 90-51 Texas victory against Rice on Feb. 22, 1977.
The Longhorns took on Sam Houston State and beat the Bearkats, 73-57.
Marcus Carr scored a season-high 19 points.
Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey each scored 14 points for Texas (5-1). Timmy Allen had 12 points and seven assists. Jones added four steals.
Savion Flagg, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M, led Sam Houston (2-5) with 16 points. Demarkus Lampley and Javion May each scored 11.
New Texas coach Chris Beard is doing everything he can to pump energy into the Longhorns' program. The latest: A trip to the past with only students invited to join the ride.
Beard made a one-game return to the 3,234-seat Gregory Gym, with only students and some VIPs allowed to attend, as part of an homage to the program's past and an invitation to join the party he's trying to build for the future. This party started before the game, at a campus gathering arranged by Beard, who then accompanied students on a walk to the gym.
Sam Houston made a strong effort to spoil the party, using an 8-0 run to tie the game at 28-all with 3:13 left in the first half. But Texas trumped that with a 10-0 spurt, with Carr scoring eight of those points.
Carr averaged 19.4 points last season for Minnesota before transferring to Texas. He had a career-best 41 points against Nebraska. He received first-team all-Big Ten recognition. His previous high at Texas this season was 11.
Gregory Gym, located in the heart of the UT campus, served as the home of Texas Basketball from the 1930-31 season through the 1976-77 season, according to Texas Athletics. The Longhorns' final game in Gregory Gym was a 72-70 loss to Baylor in the first round of the Southwest Conference Tournament on Feb. 26, 1977.
Texas moved into its current home in the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center prior to the start of the 1977-78 season. Gregory Gym still serves as the home court for Texas Volleyball.
Austin's Moody Center – the 530,000-square-foot arena scheduled to open in April 2022 – will be home to University of Texas men's and women's basketball games, as well as many concerts. The more than 15,000-seat venue will replace the 42-year-old Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center.
Back in April, KVUE got an inside look at the new state-of-the-art venue. KVUE's Jake Garcia took part in a hard-hat tour. We also got an aerial view of the construction at the Moody Center:
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