No. 6 Texas used its strong defense to power the Longhorns to a 67-58 victory over the 15th-ranked Villanova Wildcats.
Despite the emphasis on defense, the offensive identity is coming from leading scorers A.J. Abrams, who had 26 points, and Damion James, who added 16.
Abrams, who had 18 points in the second half, and James combined to score 16 straight points for Texas (7-1) when it pulled away to a double-digit lead late in the second half.
"It was just that time of the game," Abrams said. "Me and Damion know we need to step up and our teammates know to get the ball in our hands in certain situations."
The win was the second straight over a ranked team for Texas, which beat then-No. 12 UCLA 68-64 last week.
The Longhorns lost then-No.8 Notre Dame 81-80 in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
"We've been in some grinds, and tonight was a grind, it really was," Barnes said. "Our defense has been really good. People have hard time scoring when we lock in and get our defense set."
The Longhorns return home to Austin to take on Texas State in a noon game on Saturday.
