The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
Men's Basketball routs Oklahoma State to remain perfect in Big 12
01.23.2006 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Brad Buckman scored 19 points, Daniel Gibson kept up his hot shooting and No. 4 Texas stayed perfect in the Big 12 with an 80-46 victory over Oklahoma State on Monday night, the Longhorns' ninth straight win.
Gibson scored 18 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 14 for Texas (17-2, 5-0) in a blowout that matched Eddie Sutton's worst loss at Oklahoma State. Texas beat the Cowboys 92-58 in 1997 in the first matchup between these schools in the Big 12.
The Longhorns have found a perfect combination of defense and 3-point shooting in a winning streak that has them sitting alone atop the Big 12. They hit 12 3-pointers and held their ninth straight opponent under 40 percent shooting.
Gibson, who hit nine 3-pointers in a win Saturday over Baylor and is shooting better than 50 percent in Big 12 games, hit three in the first half as Texas built the lead as high as 19 points in the opening minutes.
The Longhorns came in giving up an average of 54 points in Big 12 play, fewest in the league, and held the Cowboys to their lowest total of the season.
David Monds scored 11 points to lead Oklahoma State (12-7, 2-3), which had no fast break points and committed 20 turnovers.
Sutton tried to confuse the Longhorns with a mix of zone and man defenses that stymied Texas under the basket but did little to disrupt the perimeter shooting.
Gibson missed his first two 3-pointers but quickly settled into a rhythm. The Longhorns scored just six points in the paint in the first half but hit eight 3-pointers.
Kenton Paulino hit the first, then Gibson followed with two in a row. Buckman followed with two more and Gibson's third made it 33-14 before the Cowboys closed the half with an 8-3 run to make it 36-22.
The Longhorns needed the outside production. P.J. Tucker and Aldridge, Texas' leading scorers this season, combined for just four points against Baylor and totaled eight points in the first half against the Cowboys.
Aldridge found his form in the second, hitting three of his first four shots and converted two three-point plays. The second gave Texas a 53-50 lead with 12 minutes to play.
By then the rout -- and the dunkfest -- was on.
Gibson hit his fifth 3-pointer and A.J. Abrams fed Tucker for a nifty alley-oop dunk that stretched the lead to 65-38. Paulino had nine assists and connected with Aldridge for another showtime jam to put the exclamation point on the blowout.
Game Notes
- Texas' 17-2 start is the best start in school history since 1977-78, that team went on to win the NIT title.
- In the last nine games, Texas has held each of their opponents to below 40% FG shooting (15-0 record overall).
- The Longhorns have held their Big 12 opponents to 35.0% (96-274) from the floor.
- UT has won by an average of 26.4 points per game in Big 12 play.
- The 34-point (80-46) margin of victory ties for the largest UT win in the series history (92-58; Jan. 4, 1997).
- Texas now leads the all-time series 34-32 over the Cowboys.
- Texas has held its last three opponents under 50 points (46 vs. Texas Tech, 47 vs. Baylor and 46 vs. Oklahoma State).
- Texas has now won three straight and 19 of the last 27 meetings against Oklahoma State dating back to the 1976-77 season. This stretch includes a sweep of the Cowboys last season.
- The Horns now hold a 10-2 mark in ESPN "Big Monday" home contests.
- Texas has now won 10 of the last 12 contests against the Cowboys in Austin.
- Texas is 15-1 when out rebounding their opponent.
Individual Notes
Brad Buckman
- Buckman now stand alone in eighth place on Texas's all-time rebounding list with seven boards in the game, passing B.G. Brosterhous (1971-73) with 680 rebounds, he now has 683 for his career.
- Buckman finished the night with two blocks, he sits in fifth place all-time at UT with 141 career blocks. He needs four blocks to tie LaSalle Thompson (1980-82) at fourth with 145.
- He tied his season high with two threes on the night, he finished 2-for-3 on the night from beyond the arch.
Kenton Paulino
- Paulino had career high with nine assists in the game. He also had zero turnovers in the game.
Daniel Gibson
- Gibson finished the night with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arch.
- He is 25-of-46 (.543) from beyond the arc in Big 12 games this season.
- He is 17 of his last 25 attempts from three point range for 68.0%
Oklahoma State Quotes
Head Coach Eddie Sutton
General Comments: Texas is a really good basketball team. They are very physical and have outstanding perimeter shooters. We told our guys that we would have to play a near perfect game and they would have to play far from a perfect game for us to win. Our two main strategies coming in were rebounding and taking away their three point shot. They out-toughed us on rebounds and we did a horrible job defending at the three. If you eliminate Baylor and Texas, I don't know if there is any difference between any of the other teams in this conference.
On Texas offense: Well you would certainly like a balanced offense attack that Texas has. We started in the zone then to man. Rick and I believe in man defense but it seems that more are doing zone right now. Their zone is really pretty good. They are very quick on the perimeter and they can recover quickly.
On Brad Buckman: I think Brad Buckman is an underrated basketball player. He does a lot of things that don't show up on the box score that are very important on the court. He is the heart of their basketball club. I think if they lost him it would be very hard for them to win.
Texas Quotes
Head Coach Rick Barnes
On our defense: Our defense was good tonight getting to the shooters. This whole season our guards have been getting better. We played zone the entire game tonight.
On what surprises him most so far this season: The togetherness of our team is so good right now and everyone is cheering for one another. We're a team and a very unselfish group of guys.
Sophomore Guard Daniel Gibson
On excelling in the last few games: I think we have been playing really well as a team with lots of emotion. It feels good. Everybody is feeding off of everybody else's energy. It really feels like we are rolling now. I think that we can accomplish anything we put our minds to.
On OSU's sophomore guard JamesOn Curry: JamesOn is a good scorer and a great player. We kind of put a spy on him in the zone [defense]. We knew we had to keep an eye on him on the court.
Junior Forward P.J. Tucker
On his big slam dunk in the second half: I guess I knew I was going to get it. There was that momentum, so I was pretty confident.
On utilizing many Texas players: That is what is so great about this team, we have so many guys who can get things done. When things open up, we know that anyone can make the shot. We love it when people double-team LaMarcus and me because it opens up guys like Daniel Gibson and Kenton Paulino.
Senior Forward Brad Buckman
On teammate Daniel Gibson: Any given day any player on this team can shoot the ball. Daniel did it against Baylor and then did it again tonight. Whenever he is open we want to try to get him the ball.
On what Texas can improve on: As a team, there are always improvements we can make. It is the little things, the turnovers. I had four tonight by myself. But overall, we want to continue what we are doing because it is working well.
