Texas Longhorns Marcus Carr put on a shooting display for the ages in front of a sold out crowd of 10,763 fans on Tuesday night inside the newly built Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
The six-foot-two Canadian guard set and tied the school record for most threes and points in a half to lead the No.6 ranked Longhorns to a 97-72 win over the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions.
The Toronto born, 24-year-old graduate student knocked down eight (8) of his career-high ten (10) three-pointers and single-handedly outscored Texas A&M-Commerce 33-29 as the Longhorns took a fourteen point half-time lead.
Carr’s 33 first-half points tied the school record for most points scored in a half (Jim Krivacs had 33 in the second half vs. Northern Montana on Nov. 27, 1978) and set the school record for most points scored in a first half (topping the 29 by B.J. Tyler in the first half at Baylor on Jan. 19, 1994).
Fouled with 3:40 minutes to play and the Longhorns comfortably nursing a 30-point lead (90-60), Carr knocked down two free-throws to tie a career-high 41 points. The Canadian finished the historic night shooting 13-of-19 from the floor, an incredible 10-of-15 (.667%) three-pointers and 5-of-6 from the foul-line in 30 minutes.
Fully aware of the possibility of breaking multiple individual and school records, the very next possession, to a mixture of cheers and boos, acting coach Rodney Terry opted to rest his star guard with 3:26 remaining.
“You’d think he’d want to try to continue gunning, but he came out the opposite,” Terry said. “He was a willing passer.” Carr only attempted four shots and dished out two more assists in the second-half for a total of four and two steals.
Following the game, the star of the night chatted with the Texas Longhorns network broadcast crew, where he discussed his performance with former Texas hall-famer Lance Blanks and Lowell Galindo.
“My shot has just been feeling good lately, I have been putting a lot of work, shout-out to the coaching staff, my trainers, everybody who just believing in me and putting in work with me, and It’s just been feeling great lately, and I had a couple of good looks early and the guys said we’re going to find you and I just kept on knocking them down.”
Carr mentioned that he became aware of the three-point record when it was posted on Moody Center’s state-of-the-art Daktronics video board.
“Timmy (Allen) looked at me and said get one more,” Carr said. “Not to say I didn’t want to break it. But it wasn’t of as much importance to me. Honestly, at that point, I was really just focused on trying to get better on defence.”
Carr’s total is the most by a Texas player since prolific scorer Reggie Freeman dropped 43 points against Fresno State on December 14, 1996. He also needed one more three-pointer to break Al Coleman’s school record set in 1997.
Marcus Carr ten triples ties Canadian NCAA three-pointer record
Carr’s ten three pointers also ties a Canadian record for most triples in a NCAA division I game, against a division I opponent. Tristan Blackwood (Toronto, Ont.), a former Eastern Commerce Saints star and Central Connecticut State legend, shot the lights out against Robert Morris on February 2002. Blackwood finished with 40 points on 10-of-17 from downtown.
Earlier this month, Stetson’s Hatters senior guard Wheza Panzo (Mississauga, Ont.) also knocked down ten three-pointers in a match-up against Webber International, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school.
Carr one of only two Canadians with multiple 40-point games
Additionally, Carr is one of only two Canadian basketball players to ever score 40+ points in multiple games in NCAA college basketball history. Six-foot-eight forward Bob Houbregs (Vancouver, BC) of the Washington Huskies scored three 40+ point games during his illustrious 1952-53 junior season.
As a redshirt junior with the Minnesota Golden Golphers, Carr became just the fifth Gopher ever to score at least 40 points in a game and tied for third most all time in program history with his explosive 41 point outburst against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in February 2021.
Playing in the Southland conference, the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions are playing their first season of NCAA division I college basketball. The school competed at the Division II since 1982.
