The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
Men's Basketball routs Oklahoma State, 83-54
02.12.2007 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Kevin Durant scored 21 points and Texas turned in its best defensive effort of the season for an 83-54 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State on Monday night.
The victory guaranteed the Longhorns (18-7, 8-3 Big 12) will finish no worse than .500 in conference play and was only their second victory against a Top 25 opponent.
It came against a Cowboys squad that has lost three of its last four and is winless on the road in the Big 12.
D.J. Augustin added 19 points for Texas, and A.J. Abrams, who was 7-of-17 shooting in the previous four games, scored 17.
Mario Boggan scored 16 to lead Oklahoma State (19-6, 5-5).
In the teams' first matchup last month, the Cowboys won a 105-103 thriller in triple overtime. They barely scored half as many points Monday night as Texas scored 22 points off 16 turnovers and held Oklahoma State to 37 percent shooting.
Durant and Boggan, who each scored 37 points in the first meeting, found it much tougher going in the rematch.
Covered by the Cowboy's Marcus Dove, who fouled out of the first game, Durant had just five points in the first half.
Durant and Abrams hit 3-pointers in a 10-3 Texas run that opened up a 31-24 Longhorns lead at halftime.
Abrams hit two more 3-pointers and Durant started a fast break with a steal, then finished a 3-point play as the Longhorns opened up a 53-39 lead with just under 12 minutes to play.
Durant also made up for early shooting struggles in other ways, using his long, skinny arms to snare 12 rebounds and poke the ball away from Oklahoma State guards. He hit a 3-pointer, then followed it with another tough shot and free throw to put Texas up 59-44.
The Longhorns then found the offensive burst to put the game away.
A baseline jumper by Durant and five straight points by Damion James stretched the Texas lead to 21. Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton, frustrated by the widening deficit and physical play that saw few fouls called against Texas, was hit with a technical and Abrams made both free throws.
By then, the Longhorns were finding just about any shot they wanted. Even when Durant had a reverse layup blocked, the ball came right back in his hands for an easy putback. Boggan, who had 20 rebounds against the Longhorns last month, finished with three this time.
The Longhorns shot 68 percent in the second half and all five starters scored in double figures. James and Justin Mason both shot 5 of 6 and finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The win was No. 209 at Texas for Longhorns coach Rick Barnes, breaking the school record of 208 held by Tom Penders (1989-98.)
POSTGAME NOTES
Team
- Rick Barnes now has 209 victories at Texas, making him the all-time winningest coach in Texas history. He passed Tom Penders (208, 1989-98).
- Texas is 13-1 at home this season. It has outscored its opponents by a margin of 85.4-63.9, a difference of +21.5.
- Texas is 119-17 (.875) at the Erwin Center, including a 59-11 (.843) record in Big 12 Conference home games under Rick Barnes.
- Texas has had at least one player reach the 20-point mark in all 25 games this season.
- Texas leads the all-time series with Oklahoma State, 35-34. The Longhorns have won 20 of the last 30 meetings.
- Texas is 20-11 versus Oklahoma State in Austin and has won 11 of the last 13.
- Texas has now defeated Oklahoma State by double figures in the last three games in Austin (80-46, Jan. 23, 2006; 75-61, Jan. 17, 2005).
- Texas is 11-2 in ESPN "Big Monday" home contests.
- With its eighth Big 12 win of the season, Texas has secured at least a .500 record in conference play in each of Rick Barnes' nine years.
- Texas held an Oklahoma State team that had been averaging 80.3 points per game to just 54.
- 54 points was a season low for the Texas defense in Big 12 play.
- Texas set a season high in field goal percentage 32-57 (.561).
- All five starters reached double figures in scoring for the second time this season. The first was at Oklahoma State (Jan. 16).
- Texas has made at least one 3-pointer in 535 consecutive games.
- Texas' 29-point win was its largest margin of victory in a Big 12 game this season.
Connor Atchley
- Atchley has recorded at least one block in 13 consecutive games.
- Atchley registered at least three blocks for the fifth time this season.
- Atchley collected at least six rebounds for the 10th time this season.
A.J. Abrams
- Abrams has made at least three three-pointers in 18-of-25 games this season.
- Abrams has made at least one 3-pointer in 28 consecutive games dating to last season.
- Abrams has scored in double figures in 20-of-25 games this season.
- Abrams has scored at least 15 points in 13-of-25 games this season.
D.J. Augustin
- Augustin has scored in double figures in 18 of 25 games this season.
- Augustin has recorded at least six assists in 17 of 25 games this season.
- Augustin tallied at least eight assists for the ninth time this season.
- After converting 5-of-5 free throws, Augustin is 27-of-28 (.964) from the free throw line in the last three games.
- After hitting 2-of-3 three-pointers, Augustin is now 8-of-14 (.571) over his last five games.
Kevin Durant
- Durant eclipsed the 20-point mark for the 21st time in 25 games and has reached double figures in all 25 contests.
- After not scoring in the first 11 minutes of the first half, Durant responded with 12 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half.
- Durant registered his 15th double-double of the season, extending his UT freshman record (13, Ron Baxter, 1976-77). He now stands ninth on the overall UT single-season list.
- Durant has now recorded 14 games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
- Durant has recorded double figures in rebounding 15 times.
Damion James
- James has recorded at least one block in five consecutive games has a total of nine blocks in those games.
- James equaled his career high in assists with three by halftime. His previous high came against Kansas State (Feb. 3).
- James reached double figures in scoring for the ninth time this season.
- In his last two games, James is 15-of-17 (.882) in field goals and is averaging 11.3 points per game.
- After converting 5-of-6 field goals, James now has the top three single-game field goal percentage performances of the year.
Justin Mason
- Mason reached double figures in scoring for the 10th time this season.
- After hitting 5-of-6 field goals, Mason matched the second-best individual single-game field goal percentage of the season (.833).
Craig Winder
- Winder matched his season high in three-point field goals with one (Nebraska, Jan. 24).
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Rick Barnes, Head Coach
General statement: I thought that from the beginning A.J. (Abrams) did a good job of shutting down Curry. Obviously we chose to have certain match ups, and everyone on the team played their part. First-half rebounding was key when our offense was slow. (Marcus) Dove is a terrific defensive player and Kevin (Durant) had to work hard to get going. Team-wise, I think this is the first full game we have played as a team this year.
On the team's recent improvements: I just really felt that we got better over the last two games, and I feel like we've gotten better at the time we wanted to get better. After the A&M game, we gave them a few days off because we felt that it was important, and when they came in on Thursday last week, they had a pretty hard workout. There is no doubt that in the last few games, the team communication has gotten better. Tonight for the first time during the half, they were really talking about what they needed to do for the second half, and that is what we are hoping for this time of year.
Kevin Durant, Freshman Forward
On the team's overall defensive performance: I would say this is one of our better games because we played great defense. Oklahoma State shot 36 percent and our goal was to hold them under 39 percent, so I think we did a great job. A.J. (Abrams) did a good job taking on (JamesOn) Curry, which was something we wanted to do in the game, so we executed our game plan well. We did a great job as a team playing defense and getting buckets.
D.J. Augustin, Freshman Guard
On his recent offensive performances: Coach has been telling me to keep being aggressive. The lane was wide open for me to drive, score and kick, so my options were open. Kevin (Durant) and A.J. (Abrams) did great opening the lane up, but at the same time, my teammates were waiting for the pass, so I had a lot of options. Overall, we had a lot of guys playing hard and everything was clicking defensively. We stopped the players we needed to stop, and it was a good team effort. We switched our defense up a little. We did what we had to do on the defense.
A.J. Abrams, Sophomore Guard
On guarding JamesOn Curry: I was pretty tired at the end of the game. It was a lot of running, but I was up to the challenge of guarding Curry. Coach had told me a couple days before the game that I would be guarding Curry and basically told me to try to take him out the game offensively. I feel like it was a team effort, I was chasing him off screens and my teammates were there to help me, so I could get back in position.
On the last two Texas wins: It means that we're headed in the right direction. We have had a couple of good wins in a row so hopefully that will help us build momentum into the Big 12 tournament. Coach has been telling us to put 40 minutes together. In the second half we came out focusing on finishing the game, so I think we did a good job putting it all together.
OKLAHOMA STATE POSTGAME QUOTES
Sean Sutton, Head Coach
On Kevin Durant: I think Marcus (Dove) did a good job on him in the first half. He kept the ball away from Durant and didn't let him post Marcus up close to the basket. He got his hands up on some shots and kept him off the free throw line. In the second half, Durant just got going. He's the best player in college basketball, and he can score the basketball.
On Texas as a team: I think they played tremendous in the second half. They shot the basketball well and they finished in transition. I thought that their defense gave us a lot of problems, and they caused a lot of turnovers down the stretch in the first half. We got ourselves in a huge deficit and we were not able to recover. Defensively, I think they were much improved and a lot tougher.
Mario Boggan, Senior Forward
On Texas' defense: I don't think they did anything too different from the first time we played them. They dropped one guy down to double team me every now and then, but it wasn't anything too different from the first time. I missed a couple of easy baskets I should've made, but other than that, I think the defense was almost the same this time around.
Marcus Dove, Junior Forward
On defending Kevin Durant: I just tried to keep him from getting the ball and I tried to stay out of foul trouble. Other than that, I just tried to work hard and I didn't do anything too different from the way I guarded him the first time around. We just tried to put pressure on him and not let him get the ball and I think we did a good job of limiting him in the first half.
