Austin, Texas ? P.J. Tucker didn’t start for No. 15 Texas on Wednesday night as punishment for returning late from winter vacation.

He only scored two points in the first half of a surprisingly close game against Texas-San Antonio, but then had 19 in the second half to lead the Longhorns to a 100-82 victory.

“It was my job to be a leader and step up,” said Tucker, who had 12 rebounds. “We all knew that they were not going to quit, so we kicked it up.”

Texas (9-2) fell behind 70-66 on a layup by David President midway through the second half. But Tucker scored six points in an 11-1 run that gave Texas the lead for good. The Longhorns went on a 14-4 run to put the game away.

Texas coach Rick Barnes wondered whether the slow first half was in part because his team was tired after returning to practice following a long holiday layoff.

“The only two guys who had much bounce were P.J., who missed practice due to his airplane problems, and Kenton Paulino, who was nursing a pulled left hamstring,” Barnes said. “Maybe there is something to the dead-legs theory.”

The Longhorns tied the school record with 13 blocked shots led by Jason Klotz’s seven. Texas outrebounded UTSA, 34-29.

Justin Harbert led Texas-San Antonio (4-5) with 25 points. He was 10-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-7 on three-pointers, and almost single-handedly kept UTSA within reach.

The Roadrunners also got 16 points from Andre Owens and 14 from John Millsap.

“We knew it’d be a tough place to come in here and play, but we thought we learned something even in the loss,” UTSA coach Tim Carter said.

It was the 36th home win for Texas in the past 37 games. The Longhorns are 6-0 at home this season.

Texas A&M 93, Houston 80

College Station, Texas — Acie Law had 25 points and nine assists, and Joseph Jones added 23 points and 10 rebounds for Texas A&M.

A&M is off to a 10-0 start under new coach Billy Gillispie, the Aggies’ best start since the 1959-60 team also won its first 10.

The Aggies, who also got 19 points from Antoine Wright and 15 from Dominique Kirk, jumped to a 52-40 halftime lead on 59 percent shooting. They shot 50 percent for the game, led by Jones (8-of-10) and Law (6-of-11).

Texas Tech 98, Georgia State 56

Lubbock, Texas — Jarrius Jackson led six players in double figures with 18 points for Texas Tech.

The Raiders (6-3) led 42-24 at halftime and put the game away quickly with an 18-0 run to open the second half. Georgia State (3-7) never got closer than 32 points the rest of the way.

Joining Jackson in double figures for Tech were Martin Zeno with 13 points, Curtis Marshall and Drew Coffman with 12 apiece, Ronald Ross with 11 and DeVonne Giles with 10.

Malcolm Manier led Georgia State with 24 points.