San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
With 4 games remaining, Longhorns stay atop Big 12
AUSTIN — No. 6 Texas charged back from a second-half deficit to beat Oklahoma 85-83 in overtime Saturday afternoon at the Moody Center.
The Longhorns (21-6, 10-4 Big 12) will enter next week tied for first atop the Big 12 with the winner of Saturday night’s game between No. 5 Kansas (21-5, 9-4) and No. 9 Baylor (20-6, 9-4). The loss kept Oklahoma (13-14, 3-11) in last place.
Texas graduate forward Brock Cunningham provided a spark midway through a sluggish first half.
He scored eight straight points, including a rare heat-check 3 from the wing, to pull Texas into a tie with Oklahoma. Cunningham scored all 10 of his points in the first half and finished with four rebounds and four assists.
The 6-foot-6 Cunningham was also thrust into the role of center for a few stretches early on as senior bigs Dylan Disu and Christian Bishop both battled fouled trouble. Cunningham managed to wrestle away three offensive rebounds that led to six second-chance points, but Oklahoma exploited its size advantage with a 24-12 edge in points in the paint through one half.
Texas looked poised to take a lead into the break before Oklahoma guard Grant Sherfield used a ball screen to create room and knot the game at 34-34 with a late layup.
The final 20 minutes between these two Southeastern Conference-bound rivals turned combative.
Bishop and OU senior center Groves received offsetting Flagrant I fouls early in the second half after a chippy exchange in the post. On the ensuing inbound, Texas super senior forward Timmy Allen cut inside and finished an and-1 layup with a chestthumping roar.
Sherfield (18 points) answered with two straight transition 3s to give Oklahoma 46-44 lead and prompt Texas interim coach Rodney Terry to call for a timeout. The Longhorns spent the next few minutes trying to retake the lead, falling behind by seven on several occasions before reeling off a 9-0 run to seize a 70-67 edge with 4:51 remaining.
Allen kicked off that tide-turning scoring spree with a physical and-1 finish inside. Microwave sixth man Sir’Jabari Rice then buried consecutive 3pointers off a pair of Oklahoma turnovers to erase the Sooners’ lead.
Rice (24 points) pushed Texas’ lead to four with a baseline fadeway jumper that narrowly beat the shot clock, and Disu (12 points) tacked on one with a free throw. But Oklahoma scored the final five points of the half, including an off-kilter game-tying 3 from Sherfield with seven seconds left.
Graduate guard Marcus Carr’s last-second shot fell short, drawing Texas into its second overtime of the season.
Oklahoma seized a brief 75-73 lead before Disu responded with two soft push shots in the lane. Carr then poked away a steal and finished a runout layup, followed closely by another and-1 finish from Allen.
After falling behind by seven, Oklahoma put itself back in position to extend the game with six straight points and a questionable offensive foul on Disu that negated a dunk. But OU junior forward Sam Godwin’s last-second shot caromed off back iron, allowing Texas to escape with the win and its first-place status intact.