The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Iowa State
Men's Basketball tops Iowa State, 77-68
02.10.2007 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- D.J. Augustin scored 31 points and Texas snapped a two-game losing skid in the Big 12 with a 77-68 win over Iowa State on Saturday.
Texas withstood a late rally to get the win.
Augustin, one of four freshman starters for the Longhorns (17-7, 7-3), was 9-of-13 shooting, hit all 10 of his free throws and had six assists,
Kevin Durant, the Big 12's leading scorer, had one of his worst shooting games, hitting 6-of-16 from the floor for 17 points. It was the first time he didn't score at least 26 against a Big 12 opponent.
Mike Taylor hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 points to lead the Cyclones (12-12, 3-7), who lost for the seventh time in eight games.
The Cyclones did everything they could to stymie Durant, who faced two and three defenders every time he touched the ball. Augustin made easy work of the Iowa State defense, slashing through the lane for twisting layups or pulling up to hit three 3-pointers.
Augustin had 15 points in the first half and Texas led 42-23 at halftime.
Texas led 49-29 before the Cyclones mounted a rally. Taylor hit a 3-pointer and Wesley Johnson scored four straight points, including a dunk down the middle of the lane, to pull Iowa State within 61-53 with just over six minutes to play.
The teams traded four consecutive 3-pointers before Durant came up with the special kind of play he's been making all season. He used his long left arm to poke the ball away from Taylor, then ran up court, spun around two defenders and floated a soft shot that dropped in to put Texas up 69-59 with four minutes left.
Iowa State got within 73-66 when Corey McCintosh hit two free throws with 1:25 to play. The Cyclones had a chance to get closer but Durant blocked Rahshon Clark's layup. A.J. Abrams and Augustin hit Texas' last four free throws to close it out.
Longhorns coach Rick Barnes got win No. 208 at Texas, tying Tom Penders (1989-98) for the most in school history.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team
- Rick Barnes now has 208 victories at Texas, which ties the UT record set by Tom Penders (1989-98)
- The all-time series between Texas and Iowa State is now tied, 8-8. Texas leads the series in Austin, 6-1.
- Texas improved to 6-3 versus Iowa State under Rick Barnes.
- Texas is 12-1 at home this season and has posted a 85.6-64.7 scoring margin in those 13 games.
- Texas is 118-17 (.874) at the Erwin Center, including a 58-11 (.841) record in Big 12 Conference home games under Rick Barnes.
- Texas has registered a 99-9 (.917) record in home games against unranked (AP) opponents during the Rick Barnes era.
- Texas has had at least one player reach the 20-point mark in all 24 games this season.
- Texas has made at least one 3-pointer in 534 consecutive games.
- Texas' 12 steals were a season high in Big 12 play.
- Texas' 19-point halftime lead was its largest at the break this season in Big 12 play.
- Iowa State's 23-points in the first half were a season low by a Texas Big 12 opponent.
- Texas produced runs of 8-0 and 11-0 in the first eight minutes of the game to establish a 21-5 lead. In that span, Texas had five assists and no turnovers compared to five turnovers and no assists for Iowa State.
- Texas' team free throw percentage .850 (17-20) was a season high.
Connor Atchley
- Atchley has recorded at least one block in 12 consecutive games.
- Atchley matched his career highs with two assists and one steal in the first half.
A.J. Abrams
- Abrams has made at least one 3-pointer in 27 consecutive games dating to last season.
- Abrams set a career high with six rebounds. His previous high was five (vs. Kansas State, Feb. 3).
D.J. Augustin
- Augustin set a career high with 31 points. He had previously scored 25 points twice (vs. LSU, Dec. 10; vs. Villanova, Jan. 20).
- Augustin reached the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season.
- Augustin has scored in double figures in 17 of 24 games this season.
- Augustin has recorded at least six assists in 16 of 24 games this season.
- Augustin matched his career high in steals with four (five times).
- Augustin matched the UT single-game record for free throw percentage at 1.00 (10-of-10) with a minimum of 10 attempts. The record has been kept since 1960-61. He is the 13th player to accomplish the feat and the second this season (Durant vs. Gonzaga, 10-of-10, Dec. 2).
- In his last two games, Augustin is 22-of-23 (.957) from the free throw line.
- Augustin scored seven of Texas' first nine points in the second half.
Kevin Durant
- Durant has scored in double figures in all 24 games this season.
- Durant's five steals are a career high (4 vs. Texas State, Dec. 16)
Damion James
- James reached double figures in scoring for the eighth time this season.
- After converting 5-of-5 field goals, James set a team season high in field goal percentage with a minimum of five made field goals.
- In his last two games, James is 10-of-11 (.909) in field goals.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Rick Barnes, Head Coach
On the difference between the first and second half: I liked the way we came out in the first half. I think we came out with what we needed. Iowa State came out more aggressive in the second half, and they got on the boards more and did better on the rotation. I think we came out with less energy in the second half, for whatever reason.
On D.J. Augustin: I think we saw the best performance of the year by D.J. tonight, maybe the best performance by any player on the team because of what he did on both ends. What was more important is that he led the team tonight with confidence. He led today like he has never led before. So we made some strides in that area. He also played tremendous defense, and on offense, he was given the green light to step up and shoot. He's a player who would rather pass the ball and doesn't care if he scores, but we are trying him to get him to be more aggressive. I think he showed that today.
Kevin Durant, Freshman Forward
On Iowa State's defense: They did a great job playing defense today. They were tough, and every time I got the ball, they were right there guarding me with two or three guys sometimes. D.J. [Augustin], Damion [James], and A.J. [Abrams] did a great job picking me up today, and all the credit goes to them.
On his performance: I wasn't on tonight, so we put it on our defense. We played great defense the first half and got turnovers, and we took a couple steps back on defense in the second half, but we got key stops when we needed them. D.J. [Augustin] really stepped up being a leader tonight. He is starting to become more vocal and he is the biggest part of our program right now, and without his leadership, we wouldn't be playing so well.
D.J. Augustin, Freshman Guard
On being more aggressive: Coach Barnes wants me to shoot more, but I am still going to be the same player I have always been, I'm going to be looking for my teammates first, and in turn, they're going to look for me as well.
IOWA STATE POSTGAME QUOTES
Greg McDermott, Head Coach
On the game: If you're in a situation where you lack experience and physical strength, you really have to pick your poison. We really wanted to challenge Durant to shoot shots away from the basket because it takes him out of rebounding position, which he is an outstanding rebounder. In doing that, you end up giving a few things up like the open shots. We had to give up something because we weren't going to be able to play man on those four players and contain them.
On Texas' energy in the second half: I've never had a team come out with a lot of energy in the second half with a 20-point lead at halftime. It's one of those mysteries of coaching. You can say all of the right things at halftime to fire them up, but they still think they have it won. I credit our guys. I told them not to look at the scoreboard because there isn't a 19-point play, so play each possession.
Wesley Johnson, Freshman Forward
On the second half: Coach really just told us to come out hard in the second half and just chip away at the lead so we just came out really focused on playing hard.
Mike Taylor, Junior Guard
On the team's slow start: Coach said in the first five minutes that we had already given the game away. This has been a problem that has plagued us the last couple of games. We came out slow and didn't execute the game plan, making the score snowball on us early. Texas is a really talented and good team. They execute really well for a young team.
