Jonathan Holmes had 14 points and nine rebounds to help Texas grind out a 56-40 victory over visiting Sam Houston State on Saturday night at the Frank Erwin Center.

J’Covan Brown, who entered the game averaging 26.3 points for the Longhorns (3-2), added 11 points but was only 4-of-15 from the field. Sheldon McClellan scored 12 points off the bench, and Alexis Wangmene chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds. Brown missed all seven of his field-goal attempts in the second half.

Texas led 28-22 at halftime and was up only 41-35 with 4½ minutes remaining. But Brown found McClellan for a dunk and then Wangmene scored on a tip-in to make it 45-35 with 3:35 left.

The Longhorns closed the game on a 17-5 run.

Texas came into the night averaging 87.8 points and had topped 95 on two occasions, but the Longhorns found things much more difficult against Sam Houston State (1-5).

The Bearkats hung with Texas deep into the second half, refusing to let the game get out of reach, but they simply couldn’t hit enough shots to pull off the upset, finishing 32 percent from the field and 4-of-18 on 3-pointers.

Darius Gatson and Konner Tucker each had 10 points to lead the Bearkats, who have lost five straight since opening the season with a blowout win over Howard Payne.

Texas hasn’t lost to Sam Houston State since 1950 and moved to 13-2 all-time in the series.