Austin, Texas ? While Texas is still learning to love the zone defense, the Longhorns’ romance with the three-point shot never has faded.

Daniel Gibson scored 20 points, hitting all six of his three-point attempts, to lead the 16th-ranked Longhorns to an 80-73 victory over Texas Tech on Tuesday night.

The Longhorns (15-4, 4-2 Big 12) went 14-of-21 from three-point range and made four in a row during one key stretch midway through the second half.

“I was just smiling the whole time having fun with it,” Gibson said. “I was real happy to see the way the shots were falling in the flow of the game.”

It was the eighth game this season Texas has hit at least 10 threes. It was also a breakout from a recent slump, including a 2-of-12 effort in a loss to No. 13 Oklahoma three days earlier.

“A few times it was one of those ‘No! … Yes!’ deals,” coach Rick Barnes said of the Longhorns’ shot selection against the Red Raiders.

It was hard to argue with the results.

Kenton Paulino added 16 points and Brad Buckman had 14 rebounds for Texas.

Ronald Ross scored 29 points and Devonne Giles added 18 for Texas Tech (11-5, 3-2), which came in as the Big 12’s top-scoring team but shot just 37 percent against Texas’ new zone defense.

Texas Tech's John Ofoegbu gets triple-teamed by Texas defenders, from left, Sydmill Harris, Mike Williams and Brad Buckman. The Longhorns won, 80-73, Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

Gibson and Paulino hit four three-pointers in a two-minute span of the second half that saw the Longhorns build the biggest lead of the game, 65-49.

Ross kept the Red Raiders from fading away, hitting six three-pointers to pull Tech within 72-67 with just under three minutes left.

“They just knocked down shots,” Ross said. “It’s nothing that can’t be stopped, but we didn’t stop them.”

The game was a defensive battle before the fireworks started.

Texas, which has rarely used a zone under Barnes, stayed in one the entire game in an effort to ease wear-and-tear on a depleted roster and avoid foul trouble.

“The zone’s been good to us,” Barnes said. “It’s carried us here. It’s done a lot to help guys that are banged up to play the minutes they’ve played.”

Texas is down to just eight scholarship players after P.J. Tucker was declared academically ineligible last week and freshman LaMarcus Aldridge was sidelined indefinitely because of a hip injury.

But neither was ever much of a three-point threat when they were on the floor and were hardly missed once the Longhorns starting launching shots.

Texas’ zone held the Red Raiders to 10-of-40 shooting in the first half.

“Everybody’s getting used to the zone,” Buckman said. “Coach sees how strong our zone can be.”

While Tech cranked it up in the second, shooting 54 percent, it wasn’t enough to catch the Longhorns. Texas hit five three-pointers in the first half but really was just getting started.

Gibson hit two early in the second, one from about 25 feet, and Buckman stepped out for another before Paulino finally found his range.

A 40 percent shooting team from long-range this season, seemingly couldn’t miss once Gibson and Paulino cranked up their streak that built the big lead.

“They weren’t gimme shots,” Tech coach Bob Knight said. “Those kids are good three-point shooters. That’s the strength of this team.”