Aggressive Longhorns pounce on Sooners
AUSTIN — Chris Beard wanted to see aggression. Not reckless or unrestrained but controlled and channeled into a positive force.
That’s been a seasonlong task for Beard, the Longhorns’ firstyear coach. The results have varied, but Tuesday night, with Oklahoma and its ruthlessly efficient offense in town, it looked like No. 21 Texas understood the assignment.
Three days after a meek outing in an ugly loss at Oklahoma State, the Longhorns (12-3, 3-1 Big 12) pounced all over their Red River rival, roaring to a 17-6 lead and playing inspired basketball in a 66-52 win over the Sooners (12-4, 2-2) at the Erwin Center.
“I thought the coaches coached aggressive,” Beard said, “and the players did a good job of playing aggressive.”
Beard joked about all the times he and junior forward Brock Cunningham uttered the word “aggressive” during Monday’s news conference. Cunningham alone spoke it 11 times in about three minutes.
But the message clearly imbued the Longhorns with the sort of mentality they needed to overcome Oklahoma, which entered the contest as the nation’s thirdbest shooting team (51.2 percent) and 37th most-efficient offense (112 points per 100 possessions).
The Sooners already had taken down three top-15 teams before strolling into the Erwin Center on Tuesday night, but they looked overwhelmed on both ends by Texas’ tireless blitz.
There was senior guard Courtney Ramey ripping the ball away from OU freshman Bijan Cortes, acting like the ball belonged to him, and sinking a fadeaway jumper from the elbow. Texas backcourt mate Andrew Jones got feisty too, poking the ball away at halfcourt, then cruising down the lane for a breakaway slam. And 6foot-7 forward Christian Bishop (10 points, eight rebounds, three steals) was just driving Oklahoma crazy, hustling for rebounds, closing out on shooters, and barreling through 6-10, 235-pound center Tanner Groves for layups.
OU, which three days ago shot 61.7 percent in a win over No. 11 Iowa State, went six full minutes without scoring during one stretch in the first half. And Texas didn’t take long to build on its 12point halftime lead.
Senior guard Marcus Carr delivered a perfect alley-oop to Bishop off a baseline inbound, one of the craftier offensive designs Texas has unleashed this season. Then Jones got back at it, snatching another steal and leading the break, eventually finding wide-open teammate Timmy Allen hanging out under the rim for an easy lay-in.
Those two plays keyed a 14-4 run that pushed the Longhorns’ lead to 20.
Of course, Texas suffered through an offensive lull in the second half. The Longhorns typically have been good for at least a couple of those each game, and this 1-for-9 shooting stretch was as ugly as it was expected.
But they weathered that particular ice storm, finding easier points at the free-throw line and making Oklahoma scrap for every bucket. Groves felt the struggle as much as anyone — OU’S leading scorer at 14.3 per game, he finished with season lows in points (three), shot attempts (one) and minutes (16).
Oklahoma had a few bullets left in the chamber, narrowing the gap to 11 with 5:38 left. But Texas never fully loosened its vise grip on the game, holding the Sooners to 40.4 percent shooting and a season-worst 1-for-13 effort from 3-point range. Texas shot 46.8 percent overall and forced 17 turnovers.
Maybe most important of all, Beard was visibly thrilled with his team’s ability to attack and draw fouls. After attempting just seven free throws in the loss to Oklahoma State, Texas went 18 of 24 at the foul line.
“I think from my perspective, most of the game, Texas was the most aggressive team,” Beard said. “It started early with our ability to get the foul line.”
While Texas won this game as a group — the entire starting five scored at least nine points apiece — it was Jones (season-high 22 points) who put it out of reach for good.
With 3:43 left, Carr zipped a pass to the sixth-year senior under the rim, and his reverse scoop was enough to earn a midcourt chest bump from Beard after Oklahoma’s ensuing timeout.
“We had a game plan to attack from start to finish, be relentless,” Jones said during a postgame interview on Longhorn Network. “I think we were connected during adversity. We started this game aggressive, and we finished this game aggressive.”