Texas basketball’s Arthur Kaluma hits career-high points in loss to No. 2 Auburn

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With, 3:08 left in the game, Texas basketball forward Arthur Kaluma put up a 3-pointer that ricocheted high off the rim, before bouncing around into the basket. The bucket gave him a career-high 31 points, which he proceeded to surpass a few minutes later with another three that cut the lead to 83-78 with 50 seconds left.

Texas’ comeback attempt fell short, losing to No. 2-ranked Auburn 87-83 despite trailing by as many as 21 points. Kaluma finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and two assists on 12 of 16 shooting, proving to be a difficult matchup for the Tigers.

More: Texas basketball: Coach Rodney Terry needs more effort as Longhorns ready for No. 2 Auburn

“Who do you put Kaluma on? He’s too big to put a guard on, and he was able to take a little bit of advantage of our bigs,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said.

The only other time that Kaluma scored 20 points was during Texas’ 76-65 loss to UConn. He’s been one of the Longhorn’s most efficient players this season, shooting 47.2% from three and 52.7% from the field overall.

Texas Longhorns forward Arthur Kaluma (6) defends against Auburn Tigers guard Chad Baker-Mazara (10) in the second half of an NCAA College Basketball game at Moody Center, Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.

Texas coach Rodney Terry has allowed highly-touted five-star freshman Tre Johnson to lead the offense, but the talented recruit struggled with Auburn’s defense, collecting 11 points on 5 of 13 shooting. Instead, Terry’s offensive game plan centered on Kaluma’s matchup with Auburn’s star center, Johni Broome.

Broome is one of the best players in the Southeastern Conference, having won SEC Tournament MVP in 2024. But when he had to defend Kaluma one-on-one, Broome struggled to handle the Kansas State transfer’s quickness.

“We thought that anytime we had him in a matchup situation, we wanted to exploit that. We wanted him to be able to work in pick and roll situations, ISO situations,” Terry said. “I thought it was pretty effective for us.”

With his nimble…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-basketballs-arthur-kaluma-hits-063430403.html

Author : Austin American-Statesman

Publish date : 2025-01-08 06:34:00

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