The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 15 Men's Basketball upsets No. 7 Texas A&M in double overtime, 98-96
02.28.2007 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Kevin Durant had 30 points and 16 rebounds to help No. 15 Texas outlast No. 7 Texas A&M 98-96 in double overtime Wednesday night, denying the Aggies their chance to clinch a share of their first Big 12 title.
The win keeps the Longhorns (22-7, 12-3) within sight of the conference title, which they can share with a win Saturday at No. 3 Kansas.
The Aggies' Acie Law forced both overtimes with 3-pointers. His first over Durant with 1.1 seconds left in regulation tied it at 78-78. He did it again when he hit another with 26 seconds left in the first overtime to make it 88-88.
It looked like he would do it again when he drove to the basket for a tying layup at the end of the second, but his shot was blocked by Damion James with 15 seconds left.
Durant hit three of four free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
Law, who finished with 33 points for A&M (24-5, 12-3) got to the free throw line with the Aggies down by three with 1.4 seconds left. He made the first to pull them within two but was forced to miss the second to give his team a chance to grab the rebound but the final putback was well off the mark.
D.J. Augustin added 25 points for the Longhorns. James scored 22.
A boisterous sellout crowd came to see what might have been Durant's last home game at Texas -- many expect he'll go to the NBA after this season -- but nearly saw Law spoil the party.
After each of his game-tying shots, Law posed and pointed his right forefinger in the air to the contingent of Aggie fans in the arena's upper deck.
Texas thought it had the game won when Durant hit a long 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in regulation that gave Texas a 76-72 lead, only to watch Law lead the A&M rally again and again.
The Longhorns led by as many as seven in the first overtime. Law scored the final five points with a steal and layup and the 3-pointer.
Texas opened the second overtime with a 3-pointer by A.J. Abrams, who followed it with a floater in the lane. A&M tied it on Antanas Kavaliauskas' 3-pointer before Durant got to the line to finish it off.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team
- Texas has now won six consecutive games against AP Top 10 opponents in the Erwin Center and is 8-3 overall in the Rick Barnes era.
- Texas is 21-8 (.724) under Rick Barnes against AP Top 25 teams at home.
- Texas is 15-4 against Texas A&M during the Rick Barnes era and has won 34 of the last 40 against the Aggies overall.
- Texas is 74-7 (.914) against in-state foes during the Rick Barnes era.
- Texas is 121-17 (.877) at home under Rick Barnes, including a 61-11 record (.847) in Big 12 Conference home games.
- Texas completed its home season with a 15-1 record.
- Texas and Texas A&M have gone to overtime on seven occasions and Texas now leads, 4-3. The last was an 86-76 Texas win on Jan. 15, 1997. This was the first double-overtime in series history.
- Texas has played four overtime games this season (2-2). The four overtimes contests in one season ties a UT record (1994-95; 2001-02).
- Texas played in its second game of at least double-overtime this season (1-1). UT is 7-3 all-time in specific double-overtime games.
- Texas had a player score at least 20 points for the 29th time in 30 games this season.
- Texas has had four different players reach the 20-point mark this season with James doing so tonight.
- Texas had three players score at least 20 points in the same game for the first time this season.
- Texas has made at least one 3-pointer in 540 consecutive games.
- Texas has made at least seven 3-pointers in 24-of-29 games and at least 10 threes in 16 contests.
- Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin combined to score Texas' first 16 points with eight each.
A.J. Abrams
- Abrams has scored in double figures in 23-of-29 games this season. He has reached 15 points in 15 of those games.
- Abrams has made at least one 3-pointer in 31 consecutive games dating to last season.
- Abrams has made at least three 3-pointers in 20-of-29 games this season.
D.J. Augustin
- Augustin recorded his seventh 20-point performance of the season.
- Augustin has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games and 22-of-29 contests this season.
- Augustin has made at least one 3-pointer in 22-of-29 games.
- Augustin has record at least six assists in 19-of-29 games.
- Augustin converted 5-of-6 (.833) field goals in the first half.
Kevin Durant
- Durant reached the 30-point mark for the eighth time this season, all coming in Big 12 play. Prior to this season, there had been nine 30-point games by freshmen in the history of the Big 12 conference. Durant is also tied for second in UT history for 30-point games in a season with Travis Mays (1989-90).
- With 16 rebounds, Durant now has 191 this season in Big 12 play, which ranks first on the Big 12 conference games single-season list (190, Tony Battie, Texas Tech, 1996-97).
- Durant's 191 rebounds in Big 12 play is a new UT single-season record in conference play (189, Chris Mihm, 1998-99).
- Durant topped the 20-point mark for the 24th time this season and has reached double figures in all 29 contests.
- Durant registered his 19th double-double of the season. He is alone in fifth on the UT single-season double-double list.
- Durant has reached at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in 17-of-29 games.
- Durant collected at least 15 rebounds for the seventh time this season.
- With 30 points, Durant now has 722 for the season, which ranks third on the UT single-season list. He passed Reggie Freeman (695, 1995-96). He also stands fifth on the Big 12 single-season list.
- Durant recorded at least three blocks for the second consecutive game and the ninth time this season.
- Durant made at least three 3-pointers for the 13th time this season and hit his first three of the game.
- Durant has made at least one 3-pointer in 24-of-29 games this season.
Damion James
- James recorded a career high with 22 points. His previous high was 15 points at Colorado (1-6-07). James' seven made field goals tied his career high in the same game against Colorado.
- James' eight free throws are a career high. His previous high was six versus Chicago State (11-10-06).
- James reached double figures in scoring for the 11th time this season.
- James has collected at least seven rebounds in 15-of-29 games this season.
- James has recorded at least one block in nine consecutive games has a total of 15 blocks in those games.
- In his last five games, James is 30-of-43 (.698) in field goals.
Dexter Pittman
- Pittman matched his career high in blocks with two (Texas Southern, 11-28-06).
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Rick Barnes, Head Coach
On the game: I thought we had two teams that played their hearts out tonight. I can't say enough about our team and I can't say enough about A&M. I don't know all of the history, but I don't think there has been a bigger game than right now because of where both of our programs are right now. I just have respect for both teams for the way they played tonight.
On who played well: It seems like you can go back and pick out a play for every guy. Every guy did something big tonight. I told the team that it's a player's game at the end of regulation. You are going to have to go out there and play hard and stay together. There were a lot of big plays.
On the tempo: It's hard to keep the tempo in these games. At one point at a timeout in the second half and I wrote 73% on the board. They were shooting 73% and I told the guys that at some point in time you have to guard somebody. It's hard because both teams are playing hard and doing all of the little things to try and win the game like block outs and the screening.
Kevin Durant, Freshman Forward
On the shootout with Acie Law IV: I wouldn't say it was a shootout. We just wanted to make plays for our team. I think we both did along with other players on our teams. It was a great game tonight and I am glad we got the win.
On his shot near the end of regulation: I knew I was going to take that shot when I saw D.J. (Augustin) come to my side. I just wanted take a big time shot and I shot it and I made it. Texas A&M did a great job of coming back and putting it into overtime and from then on we just played hard.
D.J. Augustin, Freshman Guard
On if he ever felt like they were the underdog: We were confident throughout the game. We told each other we weren't going to lose and we held it at the end. You cant ever stop playing hard. Those guys kept coming, but we just took over.
On the second half: We had to stop the ball and we had to play defense. We were giving them open shots. We broke down. We weren't scrambling and getting in there. We talked about getting defensive stops. We were taking open shots on offense, they just weren't falling for us. In overtime we just played our offense better and executed.
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
Billy Gillispie, Head Coach
On his team's composure: They were great; the only bad thing is that we ended up with a loss. There were a lot of big plays made by both teams and it was fun to watch. Our guys played as hard as they could possibly played and their guys played as hard as they could possibly play, and it was just a great college basketball game.
On Kevin Durant: It's hard to guard him, and I think Kevin has been fantastic all year long. He's a terrific talent, but they have other guys that make it very difficult for other teams. They have a lot of really good players, and they do a really good job in putting them in positions to be really successful. He's very difficult to guard because he's a two-guard, so you can't guard him with a big guy or little guy. It's fun to watch him play, and I love to watch him play, except when we have to play them, but I'm a big fan of him.
On Texas a team: We had to play a lot of help defense, and we fouled them too much. They went to the free throw line 41 times and we went only to 23 times, and that killed us. That was the most important thing, we fouled them too much and that made us have to use different line ups due to a couple of guys fouling out.
Acie Law IV, Senior Guard
On showing their poise: That's one thing we pride ourselves in, is to give unbelievable effort every time we step out on the floor. I think our guys did a good job of that and unfortunately for us we fell short. But give credit to Texas, their guys played extremely well tonight and credit to them for coming away with the win.
On his game-tying three over Kevin Durant: When I got the ball and saw him guarding me, I just tried to put as much arc on it as I possibly could. He made a great contest on the shot and reached up as high as he could, but I was just lucky and fortunate for it to fall. We didn't talk after the shot, I talked to him before the game and after the game, but we were in the heat of the moment and we were both in a battle. Once the time starts and the ball goes up, you really have no friends and it's a battle and we both understood that, and I congratulated him after the game.
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