By Steve Habel, Senior Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — The under-construction Texas men’s basketball team basketball was mired in no-man’s land heading into its game Monday against Oklahoma. Cue freshman guard Andrew Jones as the man to rectify that situation.
With the final seconds ticking down and the Longhorns down by two, Jones found himself far from where he wanted to be — 25 feet from the basket and under heavy duress with a desperation three-pointer the only shot he had available.
So Jones dribbled to the top of the key, retreated under [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]defensive pressure, heaved a shot high over Oklahoma forward Kristian Doolittle and hoped. When the ball (finally) came down, it settled into the net with 1.6 seconds to play, handing the Longhorns an unlikely — and truly welcome — 84-83 victory over the Sooners before an announced crowd of 10,898 fans at the Frank Erwin Center.
Sometimes it feels like the winner of games between Texas and Oklahoma should get double credit for the trouble it takes to find a way to victory. This was one of those games.
Down five points with 19 seconds to play the Longhorns charged back. Eric Davis, Jr. canned a three-pointer to cut the OU lead to 83-81. Jones’ winning shot came after the Sooners’ Kameron McGusty missed two free throws with 10 seconds to play that would have given Oklahoma a four-point lead.
“When it left my hand it felt really good,” Jones said. “I was like … ‘Yes!’ We finally ended our drought and beat OU and won a game we really needed to win. I had to put some extra height on it to make sure it wasn’t blocked; I felt like it was going in as soon as it left my hand.”
The Longhorns (8-12, 2-6 in Big 12 play) were led by Shaquille Cleare’s career-high 23 points. Davis added 18 points, Jones had 16, Kerwin Roach II hit for 11 points and Jarrett Allen scored 10 points and took 12 rebounds for UT, which snapped a five-game losing streak.
Doolittle scored a career-high 29 points to pace Oklahoma (8-11, 2-6 Big 12) while McGusty added 21 for the Sooners.
“I knew that the shot was coming because of the time that was left on the clock,” Doolittle said. “It had some arc on it and it had to have. It was a heck of a shot — one he’ll remember for a long time.”
The two teams entered the game with a combined three conference victories but played high-level basketball throughout in a back-and-forth contest befitting the rivalry.
“It’s a make or miss game, and we made our shots at the end and Oklahoma didn’t,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “It’s good to see our guys get a positive result. It was important because they have been battling hard to be in the games like we have. I like the way we’ve kept fighting.”
The first half featured runs by both teams. Texas owned the initial seven minutes, forging a 15-6 lead that was answered by the Sooners’ 9-0 surge that tied the game at 15 at the 11:08 mark.
The Longhorns then reeled off nine consecutive points, as well, and rebuilt their advantage at 24-15 only to see Oklahoma come right back at them with a little more, this time an 11-0 spurt that gave the Sooners their first lead of the game, at 26-24, with 7:57 to play in the half. Doolittle had seven those 11 points for Oklahoma.
Roach’s layup with three seconds to play in the half gave the Longhorns a 41-39 lead at intermission. Doolittle led all scorers in the half with 14 points while Cleare paced the Longhorns with 11 points.
Texas opened the second half with a 10-2 run keyed by a dunk from Allen and three-pointers by Roach and Jones that pushed the UT lead to 51-40 at the 17:24 mark. Later in the half a Jones dunk and three-pointer allowed Texas to take a 66-56 advantage, but a Doolittle jumper and two free throws by Christian James cut that cushion to 66-60 with 8:21 remaining.
“It’s a tough loss with the way things finished,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “I’m proud of the fight and the way we hung together and the way we got back in the game and had a chance to win. Free throws are critical in any ball game and we would have liked to have made a few more and we needed to make stops.”
The Longhorns return to the court Saturday when they play at Georgia as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Texas then continues the Big 12 Conference grind Feb. 1 when its hosts Texas Tech at the Erwin Center.
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