No. 18 Texas Handles Houston

January 2, 2000 / 9:25 PM EST / CBS/AP

Texas got some good news before heading into the Big 12 season. The 18th-ranked Longhorns can still win whey they go with a big lineup.

Center Chris Mihm had 20 points, 13 rebounds and tied his school record with seven blocks as Texas was forced to abandon its smaller lineup in the second half for more size before pulling away from Houston 90-80 Sunday night.

And with the defending Big 12 regular-season champions opening league play Thursday night against Baylor, coach Rick Barnes was pleased to see his team could adjust lineups so well.

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"We had answers, so that was the key," Barnes said. "There's no question that we can go big when we have to."

Texas (8-3), which has started a three-guard lineup over the last four games, found itself trying to match baskets with the Cougars (6-7) and the score tied 57-57 with 12:23 to play.

That's when Barnes reverted to using three forwards with a steady rotation of Mihm, Gabe Muoneke, Chris Owens and William Wyatt.

The shift in size and power near the basket sparked a 14-4 run over the next five minutes to put the Longhorns ahead 71-61 with 7:19 to play. Guard Ivan Wagner started the run with a 3-pointer and Mihm and Muoneke ended it with seven straight points in the paint.

Muoneke had 17 points, while Owens added 14 and William Clay 12.

"I probably should have gone to a bigger lineup earlier, but I was concerned we wouldn't flow as good on offense," Barnes said. "(Up front) is where they were beating us."

Texas' smaller lineup had few troubles scoring early but Houston's frontcourt duo of freshman George Williams and senior Kenny Younger forced Texas to change its attack.

Able to post-up Texas' smaller guards, Williams ad 23 points and 12 rebounds. Gee Gervin had 20 points for Houston, while Younger added 16, 12 in the first half.

"I tried my best to match the strength of Mihm and Muoneke," Williams said. "I feel I did fairly well. They are big and use their size well."

Barnes had shifted to a smaller starting lineup earlier three weeks ago to promote better ball movement on offense. The Longhorns had success early against Houston and used a 14-4 run to take a 24-14 lead with 13:04 left in the first half.

"The big lineup has its downs," Mihm said. "The small lineup makes us move a lot more and that makes it hard on other teams."

Houston then tightened up defensively. The Cougars forced 10 turnovers in the first half and held the Longhorns without a field goal over the next six minutes to pull within 30-25. Texas recovered from the drought to lead 40-37 after Chris McColpin's 3-pointer.

Houston opened the second half with 6-0 run to grab a 43-40 lead and the teams stayed within three points of each other before Texas' decisive run.

Texas led 84-72 with 42 seconds left before Roy Spears hit a 3-pointer and Gervin made three consecutive foul shots to pull the Cougars back to 84-78. Muoneke then hit a driving layup, Wagner made one of two free throws and Owens converted a three-point play to close the scoring.

"We played well enough to win, but we didn't get contributions from everybody coming off the bench," Houston coach Clyde Drexler said.

"We had walk-ons coming in and it's hard to keep up with NBA players with walk-ons," he said.

Texas shot 52 percent, the sixth time this season the Longhorns have made more than half their shots. Texas held Houston to 38 percent and outrebounded the Cougars 46-39.