By Steve Lansdale
AUSTIN, Texas — Redshirt sophomore guard Andrew Jones tied his career high with 20 points, and the Texas men’s basketball team, outscored LSU, 35-27, in the second half, but it was not enough to rally from a 10-point halftime deficit as the Longhorns fell, 69-67, at the Frank Erin Center as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The loss, UT’s third in a row, dropped the Longhorns’ season record to 12-7, including a 2-4 mark against Big 12 teams. LSU, meanwhile, improved to 15-4 overall and remains 6-0 against teams from the Southeastern Conference.
The loss [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]dipped the Longhorns’ record in the Big 12/SEC challenge below the .500 mark, at 3-4.
Jones half of his 14 field goal attempts and went 4-for-7 from beyond the three-point line en route to reaching the 20-point mark for the third time this season and in his career.
Two other Longhorns scored in double figures: guard Matt Coleman tallied 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, and forward Jericho Sims shot a sizzling 77.8 percent from the floor (hitting seven of nine field goals) for 14 points, and also pulled down seven rebounds. Coleman’s 17 points marked the 14th game this season in which he has scored in double figures, and the 47th in his career.
The Tigers appeared poised to run away with the game when they held a 52-36 lead with 15:08 left in the second half, but the Longhorns did not go away quietly, responding with a 22-4 scoring run that gave them a two-point lead (58-56) with 4:16 to go. LSU took a four-point lead (64-60) with 49 seconds remaining and then iced the game by converting five of six free throws in the final minute.
The Longhorns will return to conference play when they travel to Fort Worth to face TCU at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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