Second-half surge lifts the Longhorns
AUSTIN — Texas was all out of sorts, rattled and flat and searching to score points.
But the Longhorns couldn’t find any answers after seeing their early sevenpoint lead up and vanish against visiting Iowa State, at one point misfiring on eight straight shots in a heave-fest more fit for an intramural game than a Top 25 matchup. That all changed over the final 60 seconds of the first half.
Texas guard Marcus Carr orchestrated a perfect pickand-roll action with forward Christian Bishop, who slipped the switch and skied for an alley-oop finish. Then Carr ate a few floor burns to win a loose ball, passed off to a teammate, popped back up and buried a last-second 3 to light up a sleepy arena.
In that minute, Texas flipped its three-point deficit into a two-point lead. That cushion swelled in the second half as the 23rd-ranked Longhorns (17-6, 6-4 Big 12) put a 63-41 beatdown on No. 20 Iowa State (16-7, 3-7), which topped Texas by nine up in Ames three weeks ago.
“It’s always good to take a lead into the second half after going on a run,” senior guard Andrew Jones said after scoring 14 points in the win. “We came together knowing that we’re not going to play this game to lose. We’re just going to keep playing aggressive, keep going hard and try to extend the lead as much as we can and not be the victims. So we wanted to go out there and impose our will. as much as we could.”
That first half closing run hit like a fresh cup of coffee for Texas after 19 mostly miserable minutes. If the Longhorns could carry a lead into halftime after shooting 40 percent and committing seven turnovers, imagine what they could do with a little offensive panache.
Carr picked up where he left off, setting the tone with a 3-pointer to open the second half. More triples followed from senior guard Courtney Ramey and Jones.
Both of those 3s came off feeds from Carr, who finished with 14 points, five rebounds and a team-high eight of Texas’ 18 assists, the second most it has recorded this season against Big 12 competition.
“I was impressed with Marcus today,” Texas coach Chris Beard said. “He pressed early, then he just calmed down. Sometimes, to lesser players, calming down means going cautious. But to me, he sped it up and played more solid.
“His heart was in the right place, as always. Great floor game tonight.”
The Longhorns also keyed in on Penn State transfer and leading scorer Izaiah Brockington — 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting in the first half, two points on 1 of 6 in the second — causing the Cyclones’ offense to fall into a prolonged slump. They shot just 25 percent in the second half and 28.6 percent overall, compared to 43.9 percent and 46.9 percent, respectively, for Texas.
Iowa State’s other playmakers just weren’t able to break or shake Texas, and Beard’s swarm converted 18 turnovers into 24 points.
“I felt like our guys did a great job in that first half of having the physicality and toughness and togetherness you need to have the win on the road,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Unfortunately, that last 30-some seconds before half put us at a deficit at the break, but I thought we were in really good position.
“In the second half, they did a great job spacing us out, making shots, put us on our heels defensively, and they controlled the game from that point in.”
The second half featured the best version of Texas.
Of course, the first half still happened.
That was the Mr. Hyde version of these Longhorns, the one that meanders through offensive possessions and gets outworked on the glass while looking half awake.
That form can’t manifest in Monday’s home game against No. 10 Kansas, which routed No. 8 Baylor in a 24point win Saturday.
But if Texas can roll its second-half dominance of Iowa State over to its clash with the Jayhawks, it’ll have a chance to topple the team currently atop of the Big 12 standings.
“As long as we can go out there and be aggressive and apply pressure, we’re hard to beat,” Jones said.