MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL · GAME DAY
Grambling Tigers1-0AWAY
#7 Texas Longhorns2-0HOMEMoody Center · SEC Network
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MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL · ARCHIVED PREGAME PRIMER
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Texas has opened with two overwhelming wins, but Grambling offers a specific problem in Isaiah Miranda. He scored 29 points and made four threes in the Tigers’ opener. Watch how Texas defends him away from the basket without leaving the lane exposed, and whether Grambling can protect the perimeter at the other end. The Longhorns’ depth makes them the lean; the visitors need efficient offense without giving back easy points.
Grambling (1–0) visits Texas (2–0) at Moody Center on Monday, November 9. The game starts at 6 p.m. Central / 5 p.m. Mountain / 7 p.m. Eastern on SEC Network. Texas was No. 7 in the October 19 preseason AP poll, the latest available at this reporting check. This is the programs’ first meeting.
Texas beat Chicago State 109–59 and Gardner-Webb 98–50. Grambling’s only game was an 89–87 victory over Northern Illinois. Those results establish the setting, but they are too small a sample to turn into a reliable estimate of tonight’s margin.
Seven Longhorns scored in double figures against Gardner-Webb. Matas Vokietaitis leads Texas at 19.0 points per game through two outings, while Austin Goosby has averaged 5.5 assists. The early picture is an offense that can spread the work around.
Watch the possession after Grambling helps on an interior catch. Texas can make that help expensive if the ball comes back out quickly and the next player attacks a moving defense. If the Longhorns hold the ball, they give the Tigers time to recover and make their depth less useful.
Miranda made 10 of 12 shots against Northern Illinois, including four of five from three, and added eight rebounds and three blocks. Dwayne Pierce contributed 19 points and eight assists. Together, they give Texas both a scoring target and a passer who can find him.
The tactical question is where Miranda catches the ball. A catch near the rim tests Texas’s interior defense; a catch beyond the arc asks a big defender to leave that area. His opening shooting performance warrants attention, but five attempts do not establish what he will shoot over a season.
Grambling allowed Northern Illinois to make 14 of 31 three-point attempts. The Tigers won despite that perimeter damage. Against Texas, repeatedly giving up comfortable outside looks would make it difficult for Miranda and Pierce to keep the game within reach.
Watch whether Grambling can close out under control. That means arriving with a hand up while staying balanced enough to defend a drive. Flying past a shooter can turn an apparently contested three into an easier attempt at the basket.
Texas is the lean because its scoring options give it several answers if one matchup stalls. Grambling’s best chance to disrupt that expectation is to make Miranda a difficult cover while avoiding the defensive lapses that nearly erased its strong opening performance.
The conversation starter: “Can Grambling’s defense keep up with its best offensive possessions?” A few early Miranda baskets would be encouraging for the Tigers; the stronger sign would be pairing those baskets with sustained stops.
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Willis Reed helped Grambling win the 1961 NAIA championship, 63 years before its first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance. How much basketball history do we miss when we judge a school only by its March Madness résumé?
Grambling’s first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance included a comeback from 14 down against Montana State and an 88–81 overtime win in the 2024 First Four. What better way could a program introduce itself to a national audience?
Mikey Lewis is recovering from a right-foot fracture that required surgery and was expected to keep him out at the start of the season, according to the Houston Chronicle. He has not appeared in Texas’s first two box scores. A return for this game has not been confirmed in the cited material. The sources do not establish complete availability for either team.