Austin, Texas ? Two games, two easy victories. Throw in a smothering defensive performance, and the No. 2 Texas Longhorns are pretty pleased with the start of the new men’s basketball season.

P.J. Tucker had 22 points and eight rebounds, and Texas overwhelmed Samford defensively in a 77-33 victory Wednesday night in the second round of the Guardians Classic.

Texas held the Bulldogs to 13 points in the first half, matching the second-fewest points allowed in a first half by the Longhorns since the 1949-50 season. The Texas record is 12, a mark accomplished twice, most recently in last season’s 97-52 victory over Centenary.

The Longhorns also outrebounded Samford 54-15. The plus-39 margin smashed the old school record of 33. And the 33 points allowed matched the fewest surrendered since a 33-32 loss to Texas A&M in 1951.

The Longhorns (2-0) now move on to the tournament’s next round Monday in Kansas City, where they’ll meet No. 14 West Virginia, a team that that came within one victory of reaching the Final Four last season.

“West Virginia is a real good team. They made an unbelievable run in the tournament,” Tucker said. “We just went against a zone, so we got a little time to get ready for it.”

Texas forward P.J. Tucker, rear, puts up a shot against Samford guard Jerry Smith during the regional round of the Guardians Classic. The second-ranked Longhorns won, 77-33, Wednesday in Austin, Texas.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Longhorns, who just missed having three players record double-doubles. Brad Buckman finished with nine points and nine boards.

“It gets pretty selfish out there” rebounding, Buckman said. “That’s our goal every game.”

Although the numbers were ugly by the end, Samford (1-1) served up an early lesson in frustration for the Longhorns using a zone defense that drew Texas fouls and a slow-paced Princeton-style offense that kept the Texas offense in check.

While Aldridge was 4-of-6 shooting with seven rebounds in the first half, Texas point guard Daniel Gibson went to the bench after two offensive fouls, and the Longhorns generally looked out of sync with nine turnovers.

“It’s great for us to face a team like that,” Buckman said. “It really forces us to play great defense.”

Texas made up for the offensive miscues with a 28-8 rebounding edge in the half and a defensive effort that held smaller and slower Samford to 5-of-23 shooting. Overall, Texas held Samford to 26 percent shooting – 13-of-50.

“I thought that the first half, we really battled them. (But) our defensive energy really continued to fall,” said Samford coach Jimmy Tillette.

Texas led 11-5 before Tucker and Aldridge scored eight straight points. J.D. Lewis hit two three-pointers as the Longhorns built the lead to 25-13. Tucker closed the half with consecutive layups, the second on a steal and fast break with 12 seconds left, to make it 30-13.