Longhorns post complete effort in road win
Second straight victory provides positive performance ahead of facing No. 6 Kansas
Texas is rarely going to send a shockwave of “wows” through those watching.
Bouncy bigs Jericho Sims and Kai Jones have the potential to soar for some ferocious jams. Jase Febres can go nuclear from deep at any moment. Matt Coleman's hidden gear in transition is thrilling.
For the most part, though, Texas plays ugly. It often wins ugly. Wednesday night looked a bit different, even if the first half mostly resembled a traditional Big 12 rock fight.
The Longhorns (12-4, 2-2 Big 12) went into Gallagher-iba Arena and emerged with a 76-64 win over Oklahoma State (9-7, 0-4). It was their second straight victory, a vital one ahead of Saturday's home game against No. 6 Kansas.
The 76 points were atypical of Texas and somewhat surprising considering how ugly the first half looked for both teams.
Texas was again plagued by long bouts of inconsistent shotmaking and sloppy turnovers. Too much dribbling, too much settling, too little penetration.
It was through stifling defense that the Longhorns built an early 15-4 lead. The Longhorns were jumping passing lanes, limiting second-chance opportunities and pushing the ball off misses and live-ball turnovers, something coach Shaka Smart has been preaching since November.
Without that effort, a miserable 1-for-8 shooting stretch to end the half might have cost Texas the lead. Instead, it entered halftime ahead 31-25.
“Defense has to be our identity, our anchor,” Smart said Monday. “You look around this league, all the best teams have that in common. So the defensive side of the ball has got to be where you start.”
There was some beauty to behold in the latter half of this conference tussle.
Early on, pass-happy forward Kamaka Hepa threw his defender with a pump fake in the corner, drove baseline and soared for a surprising two-handed slam. A couple minutes later, guard Andrew Jones snatched a shot blocked by freshman Kai and flipped a fast-break pass to Febres, who threw down a savage tomahawk dunk from outside the paint. Hepa hammered another dunk shortly after on a moving feed from Febres.
In fact, it was Hepa, often quiet in the box score, who sparked the Longhorns' offensive explosion. He poured in seven points during UT'S hot start, which pushed its lead to 45-29.
The sophomore forward finished with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and hit three of the team's season-high 15 3pointers.
“Just shooting open shots and then the confidence I get from my teammates and my coaches,” Hepa said on ESPN+ of what drove his offensive production. “I feel like they have tremendous confidence in me, that's helped me build confidence in myself.”
But Stillwater can be a treacherous place to play and the Cowboys still had a pulse after that second-half salvo. The speed and gear-shifting ability of sophomore guard Issac Likekele was key in twice cutting the deficit to six and bringing the arena to a standing roar.
But each time Oklahoma State punched back, Texas had an answer. Some came in the form of a back-breaking three, others as a vicious block from Kai (careerhigh five blocks) or Sims (three blocks).
Sophomore guard Courtney Ramey was the one to emerge and steer Texas to a win it desperately needed. In the second half alone he recorded 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two blocks.
When Ramey's pull-up three with 3:26 fell to give Texas a 12point lead, the game finally seemed secure. For good measure, Jones sank four clutch free throws and Ramey hit another bomb from deep to close out the Cowboys.
It was an encouraging performance that should help wash away some of the lingering angst over losing to Baylor and Oklahoma to start Big 12 play, though there remains plenty of work to be done.
“We're focused on what's important now, that's something we stress,” Hepa said. “Obviously we can't get those two games back but we can go on in conference play and continue this winning streak we have going.”