The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Nebraska
No. 9 Men's Basketball defeats Nebraska, 70-66
03.04.2008 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A.J. Abrams spent the last week trying to work out of a shooting slump.
On Tuesday night, it took him 39 minutes and 19 seconds.
Abrams, who was 1-for-5 from the field in the first half, hit a clutch 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to lead No. 9 Texas to a 70-66 victory over Nebraska.
"Yesterday (in practice) he was worrying about shooting it," Texas coach Rick Barnes said of Abrams. "In that possession, we felt like he was due, and they did a really good job on him. That last possession they'll think, `We let him go that last second' and that's all it took."
D.J. Augustin scored 22 points for the Longhorns (25-5, 12-3), who moved into a tie for first place in the Big 12 with No. 5 Kansas.
Aleks Maric had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Cornhuskers (17-11, 6-9).
Abrams' deep 3-pointer broke a 61-61 tie. He was fouled on the inbounds pass and hit two free throws with 23 seconds left. Sek Henry hit a 3 to bring the Cornhuskers within two.
Abrams added his second set of free throws with 17 seconds left to give Texas a 68-64 lead.
Henry's layup with 10 seconds to go had Nebraska within two points again.
On the ensuing inbounds, Connor Atchley's pass was almost intercepted by Maric but it was knocked away by Texas' Justin Mason who was fouled with 6 seconds to go.
"If I picked a player of the game, I'd pick Justin Mason," Barnes said. "The play of the game, it was huge. It was a bad call for Connor to throw it, and Justin made a great save right there."
Abrams was wide open right in front of Atchley and the guard made sure to let the forward know that.
"I just told him to give me the ball," Abrams said. "It was a little more explicit, but not to throw that deep ball at that moment."
Mason hit both free throws.
Nebraska got the ball to Maric but he missed a layup that was rebounded by Atchley to end the game.
Nebraska opened a 10-3 lead as Texas went 1-for-6 from the field in the first 5 minutes. Atchley and Abrams combined to go 1-for-8 in the first half.
"I don't think I lose my confidence," Abrams said. "My teammates do a good job of telling me to keep shooting it, and I'm not going to let them down."
Augustin and Damion James teamed up to run Texas' transition offense that took advantage of Nebraska's seven first-half turnovers to take a 38-25 lead.
Ryan Anderson had 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting for Nebraska, while Paul Velander scored his nine points on 3-pointers.
"They made shots, and we had careless turnovers that allowed them to go down and hit shots," Barnes said.
Augustin, who had four 3-pointers, was 9-for-16 from the field.
"(Nebraska's defense) was as good as it can get and we still lost," Cornhuskers coach Doc Sadler said. "He got 10 points from mid-range and was usually inside or on the perimeter.
"I don't know that their team is an inside-oriented team," Sadler said. "Atchley can come out and hit the big shot and their offense is so spread out. That's their game: pick and pop."
TEXAS POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Texas' 25 wins tie the school record for most regular-season victories.
- Texas reached 12 conference wins for the third consecutive season.
- Texas set a new single-season total attendance mark with 232,168 fans in 17 games. The previous mark was 222,400 set in 1978-79.
- Texas has won seven straight games over Nebraska and leads the overall series, 15-4, including 9-1 in the Rick Barnes era.
- Texas is 16-1 at the Erwin Center this year, including a 7-0 mark in Big 12 home games.
- Texas is 137-18 (.884) at the Erwin Center during the Rick Barnes era, including winning 91 of its last 97 home games.
- Texas is 68-11 (.861) in Big 12 Conference home games under Rick Barnes.
- Texas has blocked 37 shots in the past five games (7.4 bpg).
- Held an 8-0 advantage in blocks in the game.
- After trailing 12-5 in the first half, Texas went on a 28-8 run for a 33-20 lead and led 38-25 at halftime.
- D.J. Augustin and Damion James combined to make 11-of-14 shots in the first half for 28 points.
A.J. Abrams
- Scored in double figures for 24th time this season and the 62nd time in 101 career games, including 53 of his last 64
Connor Atchley
- Matched his career high with five blocks (vs. Kansas State, 2-3-07)
- Recorded at least one block in his 11th consecutive game
- Blocked at least two shots in eight straight games
D.J. Augustin
- Reached the 20-point mark for the 15th time this season and the 22nd time in 65 career games
- Scored in double figures for the 27th time this season and the 52nd time in his career
- Has made at least two three-pointers in 20 games this season
- Matched his season high with four made three-pointers
- Has made at least one three-pointer in six consecutive games and 27 of 30 games this season
- Led Texas in assists for the 26th time this season
Damion James
- Matched his career high in steals with three by halftime
- Led Texas in steals for the fifth time this season
- Scored in double figures for the 19th time this season and the 31st time in 65 career games
- Recorded at least seven rebounds for the 25th consecutive game
- Led Texas in rebounding for the 27th time this season
- Has recorded 85 rebounds in the last eight games (10.6 rpg)
- Has blocked at least one shot in eight consecutive games and at least two in six of the last seven games
- Made at least one three-pointer in six of the last seven games
Justin Mason (65th career game)
- Has totaled 45 rebounds in the past seven games (6.4 rpg)
- Pulled down at least six rebounds in five of the last seven games
- Matched his career high in assists in Big 12 play with four
- Finished perfect from the floor (2-2 FG/1-1 threes/2-2 FT)
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On the second half: I told our team after the game in Lubbock, that you could make a case that Nebraska and Oklahoma State have had as great of a February as we had. When we had the lead, we didn't do the things we needed to do. We had some turnovers that were back-to-back-to-back. I think they scored on all three of Gary's [Johnson] turnovers. They got going and there was no doubt that they got into a rhythm. There were four guys out there that you had to honor from the three-point line. You could tell they were feeling pretty good. [Nebraska head coach] Doc [Sadler] does a great job and he gets as much out of his players as anybody we play against. They know exactly what they are going to do. They are going to grind it and try to keep it down. We always told our team, "Defense gets the lead and offense keeps it," but that didn't happen tonight. We missed some shots, and like I said, there are going to be times where you miss shots and you have to find a way to keep going. We are going to be in more games like this than we will with a 17-point lead. The way we were able to finish, it was pretty good for us.
On Nebraska's Aleks Maric: They do a great job of looking for him and playing through him. We were trying to keep the ball away from him as much as possible, but they did a good job of spreading the court and dumping the ball down to him. He's really good at passing the ball too. When he gets the ball in there, he's very patient and he will kick it out to the three. They know what they are looking for and they are going to play through him. I thought it was going to be a really close basketball game and that's the way it played out.
On Justin Mason: If I could pick a player of the game, I'd pick Justin [Mason] tonight. Look at our guards, they rebounded better than our post guys for the most part tonight. A.J. [Abrams] had five and Justin had seven. The play at the end of the game was huge, and it was a bad decision for Connor [Atchley] to throw it, but Justin made a great save for us.
A.J. Abrams, JUNIOR GUARD
On playing with confidence: My teammates do a good job of always telling me to keep shooting and that's my role on the team, to score, so I'm not going to let them down.
On the play of Justin Mason: Coach refers to him as the junkyard dog and he does a lot of dirty work for us. The last play of the game just shows what kind of game he has, getting the ball down for us and then knocking down the free throws when we need it.
On rebounding after the loss to Texas Tech: We want to take any win we can get. Unfortunately we lost to Tech, but I think we wanted to come back and put together a well-rounded game as far as playing with intensity on defense and taking your time. Sometimes your shots don't fall on offense, and you have that kind of grind out game where you have to rely on defense.
Damion James, SOPHOMORE FORWARD
On only taking two shots in the second half: I was just focusing on my defense. I took shots the first half. I wasn't taking them the second half, but we got the win, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
On being tied for first in the Big 12: We've put ourselves in a great position to come out on top, but we know we have a game against Oklahoma State, one of the hottest teams, so we hope to come out, play hard and win.
D.J. Augustin, SOPHOMORE GUARD
On having to fight for the win: I don't think we were sluggish. Nebraska just came to play and that's what every team is going to do. They are going to come in here and try to beat us every night. We came out and we tried to play hard and play defense.
On Nebraska's defense: They were in the blue defense, so basically they were packing the lane and it was hard to drive and get in the lane. My teammates did a good job of screening, screening for A.J., dribble hand-offs and we got moving.
NEBRASKA POSTGAME QUOTES
DOC SADLER, NEBRASKA HEAD COACH
Opening statement: First of all, you enjoy playing against Coach Barnes' team because you know they are going to have all the pieces and make you defend all the options available. In the first half, I was disappointed in our defense, because coming into the game I knew that the only chance that we would have is to keep them scoring in the 60s, but we gave up 38 points to them in the first half. In my opinion, the biggest difference in the ball game is that in the second half we made shots, and in the first half we didn't. If you make three-pointers, the game is going to be closer than it was. I am just so proud of our basketball team. You're talking about a team that started this league at 0-4. They have just given me every ounce of energy they have got all year. In all purposes, the NCAA Tournament was probably over, but it didn't affect our play and the guys gave me everything they got. As a coach, you have to be totally happy with that. You just have to give credit, and what a shot [A.J.] Abrams made. It's not like you don't know that is what is going to take place. We knew that it was either going to be [D.J.] Augustin or Abrams that is going to make a play, and their guy made a play. That is why they are where they're at and why we're where we're at.
On their game plan: Our whole game plan was to come in here and double-team Augustin off of the ball screen and not leave him until he shot the ball or passed it. I thought we did a good job of that. Abrams hit some tough shots. In the last three ball games, looking at their shot chart and really studying it, you have to take away the three and you have to take away the line. In the first half, [Damion] James and some of those guys hit some 15 and 17-foot jumpers and that is something you have to give up, and they hit them. In the second half, I don't think they made those, and I think that was the biggest difference.
On getting the ball down low to Maric: Obviously, we understand that is going to be a big part of our game. We work on it very hard and we have some good passers. Aleks has tremendous hands, and he made some catches that are hard to make. It had to do with our coaching or else we would have been in trouble a long time ago. It's all about Aleks [Maric] and our players making some plays.
