AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 7 Texas had already been through a long, bewildering day, and there was still a game to play. Coach Chris Beard was arrested on a…
No. 7 Texas had already been through a long, bewildering day, and there was still a game to play.
Coach Chris Beard was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge early Monday. Assistant Rodney Terry called the players together to talk, urging them to rally to each other and stay focused on their matchup with Rice.
By tipoff, Beard was out of jail but suspended indefinitely without pay. That left Terry to direct the Longhorns to a tough 87-81 overtime win over Rice.
Terry summed up Monday as a “difficult day.”
“I took our older guys … and really just had a really good talk in terms of there’s going to be things like this the rest of your life. It’s how you deal with them, adapt and adjust. At the end of the day, we have a job to do,” Terry said. “I thought they responded to that well.”
Marcus Carr, a sixth-year guard, scored 28 points for Texas. The school did not make the players available for comment after the game.
Texas has not yet publicly committed to Terry as the acting coach beyond Monday night’s game. Texas doesn’t play again until Sunday in Dallas against Stanford. Terry said the school had not yet talked to him about any future games.
Terry has two previous head coaching stints at UTEP (2018-21) and Fresno State (2011-18). He got a round of applause Monday night when he was announced as the “acting head coach” before tipoff.
