The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Colorado
No. 19 Men's Basketball tops Colorado, 69-67
01.19.2008 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Other players scored more points and made bigger shots.
For Texas coach Rick Barnes, no one made bigger plays for the No. 19 Longhorns than Justin Mason, whose tough defense in a 69-67 win over Colorado on Saturday night earned him a return to the starting lineup.
Texas trailed by 13 early in the second half and Mason, a former starter relegated to the bench because of inconsistent play, had two blocks and a steal that Texas turned into points in a second-half run that turned the game.
Texas had just taken the lead when Mason made the defensive plays of the night.
"He has struggled ... [but] he was the difference in the game today," Barnes said. "He came out and played like a junkyard dog."
D.J. Augustin scored 25 points and A.J. Abrams added 17, sparking the rally with his 3-point shooting.
A 3-pointer by Abrams gave Texas its first lead at 43-41 and Mason's defense kept the rally going. After Colorado made two free throws, Mason's two blocks and the steal all led to baskets as the Longhorns stretched their lead to six and kept pushing it.
That kind of hustle earned Mason a return to the starting lineup for Texas (14-3, 1-1 Big 12) on Monday night at Oklahoma State, Barnes said.
"Every player goes through tough times in the course of a season," Mason said. "If I'm not scoring, coach expects me to be a leader on the defensive end."
Richard Roby scored 18 points for Colorado (9-8, 1-2), which hit seven 3-pointers in the first half, but none in the second.
Even with Texas' big rally, Colorado nearly clawed its way back at the end.
Connor Atchley's 3-point play with 4:25 to play put Texas up 69-59 but it was the Longhorns' last basket of the game. A jumper by Roby and a layup by Marcus Hall cut the lead to four.
Colorado's last chance came when the Buffaloes forced shot a clock violation with 18 seconds left, but Roby missed a 3-pointer before Levi Knutson's tip-in at the buzzer.
"We got a little sideways there and undisciplined and out of our offense for a few moments," Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said of Texas' rally.
Texas struggled to score in the first half after wingman Damion James, the Longhorns most consistent scorer of late, went to the bench six minutes in with his second foul. Colorado led 37-28 at halftime and 41-28 early in the second.
Abrams started Texas' rally with a 3-pointer, then converted a 3-point play. James made his first basket, and Atchley started a fast break with a steal and finished it with a putback off James' missed dunk to pull within 41-38.
After a Colorado timeout, Mason hit a layup and Abrams pulled up on a fast break for a 3-pointer, punctuating with the swish with a furious yell as Texas took its first lead.
Colorado looked stunned when Abrams drilled yet another 3-pointer from deep in the left corner.
"We came out [in the second half] and played with more passion and more pride," Abrams said. "We wanted to protect home court."
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas is 10-0 in Big 12 Conference home openers during the Rick Barnes era
- Texas is 11-8 all-time vs. Colorado
- Texas is 131-18 (.879) at the Erwin Center during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 85 of its last 91 home games
- Texas is 62-11 (.849) in Big 12 Conference home games under Rick Barnes
- Texas is 109-10 (.916) in home games against unranked (AP) opponents during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 70 of their last 74
- Texas had more assists than turnovers for the 15th time in 17 games in 2007-08
A.J. Abrams
- Scored 10 or more points for 15th time in 2007-08 and the 53rd time in 88 career games, including 44 of his last 51
- Moved into third place on UT's career 3-pointer list with 218. He now trails only Travis Mays (246) and Reggie Freeman (243).
Connor Atchley
- Scored 10 or more points for the eighth time in 2007-08 and the 11th time in 81 career games
- Shot 75% or higher from the field for the fifth time in 2007-08 (min. five made FG) and posted UT's best outing of the season at 85.7%
D.J. Augustin
- Scored 10 or more points for the 16th time in 2007-08 and the 41st time in 52 career games
- Scored 20 or more points for the 10th time in 2007-08 and the 17th time in his career
- Led Texas in scoring for the ninth time this season
- Led Texas in scoring for the ninth time this season
Damion James
- Led Texas in rebounds for the 14th time in 2007-08
Justin Mason
- Logged a career-high with four blocks. He had previously blocked two shots against UC Davis on Nov. 16, 2007
Ian Mooney
- Logged his second career assist. His other assist came vs. Texas Southern on Nov. 28, 2007
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On the play of Justin Mason: He needs to be out there. He has struggled, and I think he can tell you that he just had to sit out and watch the game for a while. It's hard because he does everything we want him to do. He is tenacious and puts a lot of effort in practice; but he was putting a lot of pressure on himself and sometimes players will tell you that they just need to step back and look. Justin was the difference in the game today. He defended, he did all the little things and his blocks were key. Today, he came out and played like a junkyard dog and that is what we needed him to do. He made some great plays for us.
On coming out the second half: The second half we played a really good basketball game. They're a tough team to defend and we adjusted real well. In the first half, we really saddled on offense -- we would make one pass and then shoot. But they really came out in the second half and improved.
On the play of D.J. Augustin: We are going to go to D.J. all year long even if he misses his free throws. He is the guy; we believe in him, we're going to put the game in his hands, and all players go through some struggles with their game. D.J. can get by anybody, he has to fight the drive and I don't think anybody can stay in front of him.
A.J. Abrams, JUNIOR GUARD
On the big run in the second half: Coach (Barnes) told us at half time that we just needed to be more aggressive both offensively and defensively, so I think we just played with more passion out there in the second half. We wanted to come out and make sure that we protect home court and that run helped us do it.
D.J. Augustin, SOPHOMORE GUARD
On the changes made at half time: We didn't come out with the same intensity in the first half as we did the second half. Justin [Mason] really held us together on defense in the second half. That's the kind of play that we needed to have the whole game.
On Colorado getting so many open shots in the first half: They have great players and their players did their jobs. We really needed to step up and play better defense and that's what coach told us to do and we executed in the second half.
Connor Atchley, JUNIOR FORWARD
On their defensive changes: Offensively Colorado likes to do a lot of back cuts and screens so we were just making sure that the guards could stay with their guys and helping them when they needed help. Our help defense really helped us out.
COLORADO QUOTES
HEAD COACH JEFF BZDELIK
On the game: We just need to keep getting better. They had what 12 offensive rebounds in the second half. You can't give a team in one half, twelve second shot opportunities. We had a stretch there in a four-minute period where we missed three lay-ups and three free throws. We had opportunities at the line and at the rim and we never cashed in. We need to pick ourselves up and continue to get better.
On the 24-2 run: We responded. You can't let a team have that kind of a run. Again it was because why we couldn't rebound the ball and we missed some opportunities at the rim and the free throw line. That is the reason they got the run. We got a little sideways there and undisciplined and out of our offense for a few moments. We need to stay disciplined.
MARCUS HALL, SENIOR GUARD
On how they played tonight: We played good. We just have to play better. We had a nine-point lead and we still had an opportunity at the end of the game to tie it up, but we just didn't do it.
On the second half: They were doing the same thing they had been doing all game. I think we just got a little impatient on offense and again we didn't get stopped- we just didn't find guys on transition. [A.J.] Abrams got off a few threes in transitions and [D.J.] Augustin did a good job of taking advantage of our top players having fouls.
XAVIER SILAS, SOPHOMORE GUARD
On how they played tonight: Not good enough. We played all right, but we wanted to win so it wasn't good enough.
On what Texas did differently to come back: Offensive boards. They started going to the offensive boards real hard and that is what hurt us. We didn't box out.
