WHO: Texas Lutheran University vs. University of Texas (Exhibition)
WHEN: 7:30 PM
WHERE: Erwin Events Center, Austin, TX
HOW TO WATCH: Longhorn Network
TICKETS: Free Admission!
From this point forward, November 1, 2021 will forever mark a momentous occasion. The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns will meet for the first time ever as the reigning Big 12 champions welcome the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs to the Erwin Events Center. Tip off is set for 7:30 PM on the Longhorn Network. This will be the opening contest for both teams in this Division-I vs. Division-III battle. The Longhorns look to build upon last season under new head coach Chris Beard following a first round exit in the NCAA Tournament while the Bulldogs come in to the arena fresh off of their COVID shortened season that saw them only play 11 games and exit in the first round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament. Today's game marks the return of Texas's native son, Mike Wacker, as the Texas Lutheran head coach and former All-American for the Longhorns will grace the sidelines for the Bulldogs for his 6th season.
The Bulldogs return 2 All-Conference honorees in 5th-year senior guard Sebastian Andrade and sophomore forward Garrett Prince. Prince started all 11 games for the Bulldogs as a freshman leading the SCAC in blocks with 2.8 per contest to go along with 6.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and 53.3% three-point percentage...scored a season high 14 points against Austin College (2/26) which was good enough for an All-SCAC Honorable Mention nomination. Andrade started all 11 games for Bulldogs averaging 14.9 points per game and leading the Bulldogs in steals. Andrade was fifth in the SCAC in scoring per game at the conclusion of the Bulldogs' season and amed to the All-SCAC Second Team for the second time in his career.
The 2021-22 Texas Lutheran Men's Basketball team hosts four members from their last SCAC Championship in 2018-19 in Sebastian Andrade, Jamir Mason, Cameron Fontenot, and Avery Theus. The upper classmen will look to provide a veteran presence to a very young Bulldogs squad that will return 10 lettermen and three starters from their 2021 squad but will welcome 10 new faces to the roster as well.
For the first time since his legendary collegiate career, Bulldogs head coach Mike Wacker will grace the floor at Texas - this time on the visitor's sideline.
Wacker is a 1985 graduate of the University of Texas, where he earned All-Southwest Conference First Team honors and was named to the UT/HEB "All-Time Texas Basketball Team." He was inducted into the University of Texas Athletic Hall of Honor in 1999.
Prior to a knee injury he sustained in the 1981-82 season, Wacker and legendary coach Abe Lemons led Texas to a 14-0 start and a No. 5 national ranking. In a road game against the University of Houston's famed Phi Slama Jama (with future Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler), Wacker scored 32 points.
In 1984-85, Wacker led the Longhorns in scoring, rebounding, minutes played, and field goal percentage, and he finished his career as the Longhorns' career leader in field goal percentage. He was a team captain and voted his team's Most Valuable Player. Wacker was given the Bill Henderson Sportsmanship Award.
Expect a tribute or two to Wacker's Texas playing days throughout the night.
The Bulldogs will have their hands full with the Longhorns who enter the regular season ranked as the 5th-best team in the country by the Associated Press. Longhorns senior guard Marcus Carr has been tabbed Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team - returners Andrew Jones and Tre Mitchell were also named to the preseason squad. Senior small forward Timmy Allen was named to the Julius Erving Award Watch List - an award for the nation's top small forward. As expected for a top five team, the Longhorns are decorated with honors in the preseason as the team comprised of predominantly upperclassmen will help usher in the season for a Bulldogs team that, for the most part, was still in high school this time last year.
Admission to the game will be free. If you can't make it to Austin, the game will be streamed on Texas's Longhorn Network.
