The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
Men's Basketball edged by Kansas State in overtime, 85-81
01.31.2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2009
Box Score 
| Box Score | Notes | Quotes |
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Denis Clemente tied a Big 12 record with 44 points, leading Kansas State to an 85-81 overtime upset of No. 11 Texas on Saturday, ending the Longhorns' 19-game home winning streak.
Clemente tied the conference mark set last season by former Wildcat Michael Beasley. He went 6-of-6 on 3-pointers and his last two free throws with 6.9 seconds left in overtime put the game away. Fred Brown had given Kansas State the lead with a 3-pointer with 18.6 seconds left.
Brown finished with 13 points for the Wildcats (14-7, 3-4).
Texas had rallied from 17 points down in the second half to send the game into overtime. Damion James scored 19 points to lead the Longhorns (15-5, 4-2).
Texas' A.J. Abrams made four 3-pointers to break the Big 12 career mark of 338 he shared with Kansas' Jeff Boschee (1999-2002).
Kansas State led 63-46 with 7:01 to play when Clemente and Brown combined for eight straight points before Texas started to rally. Abrams hit a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play and then struck again from long range as the Longhorns cut it to 69-64 with 3:01 left.
Withering ball pressure by Texas defenders and misfires by Kansas State shooters kept the comeback going on a steady pace. The Longhorns finally made it 74-74 to send it to overtime when Justin Mason powered over Jacob Pullen in the lane for a layup with 9 seconds left.
Clemente had a chance to win it in the final seconds but his off-balance shot was too long.
Kansas State opened the overtime with four straight points on free throws by Clemente and a layup by Ron Anderson before Texas answered with baskets from Damion James and Mason.
Texas' Gary Johnson tied it 79-79 with a free throw before Brown made the long 3-pointer from the left wing. He let the shot go with just 4 seconds left on the shot clock.
Clement was 13-of-25 from the field and Kansas State shot 38 percent, but the Wildcats went 23-of-35 from the free throw line and forced 20 turnovers.
At halftime, Texas retired the No. 15 jersey of basketball Hall of Famer Slater Martin. A guard, Martin led Texas to a 63-14 record from 1947-49 and a third-place finish in the NCAA tournament in 1947. Martin played 11 seasons in the NBA, winning five titles.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Limited an opponent to under 40% FG shooting for the 13th time in the first 20 games, losing for just the second time this season under the circumstances
- Had a 19-game home court win streak snapped as well as a 14-game Big 12 Conference home win streak
- Scored 50 or more points in the second half of each of its last two games
- Denis Clemente set the Erwin Center scoring record, besting the mark set by UT's Reggie Freeman against Fresno State (43 - Dec. 14, 1996) and finishing the game with 44
- Denis Clemente's 44 points was the sixth-highest output all-time by an opponent against Texas
A.J. Abrams
- Played in his 129th career game, tying Brad Buckman (129 - 2003-06) for sixth place on the UT career list
- Set the Big 12 career record for 3-point field goals with his first of the game at the 13:13 mark of the first half, passing Kansas' Jeff Boschee (338 - 1999-2002). He ended the game with 342 3-pointers
- Scored 10 or more points for the 14th time this season and the 82nd time in his career
Damion James
- Scored 10 or more points for the 19th time this season and the 57th time in 93 career games
- Registered his eighth double-double of the season and the 29th of his career
- Tied Larry Robinson (1972-74) for fourth place on UT's list for most career double-doubles with 29
- Grabbed 10 or more rebounds for the eighth time this season and the 38th time in his career
- Moved into 25th place on UT's career scoring list, passing Wayne Doyal (1,062 - 1968-70) with 1,080 points
- Moved into sixth place on UT's career rebounding list, passing Brad Buckman (808 - 2003-06) with 818 boards
- Led Texas in rebounding for the 11th time this season and the 51st time in his career
- Played a career-high 39 minutes, topping the 38 minutes he had logged on three separate occasions
Gary Johnson
- Scored 10 or more points for the 13th time this season and the 17th time in 42 career games
- Played a career-high 36 minutes, besting the 35 minute he logged against Michigan State this season
- Made a career-high eight free throws, topping the six he made against Oregon this season
Justin Mason
- Equaled a career-high with nine assists, tying the mark he set against Texas State earlier this season
- Scored 10 or more points for the sixth time this season and the 27th time in 93 career games
TEXAS QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Barnes
On today's game: It's a disappointing, hard and tough loss. You really have to give Kansas State credit. Denis [Clemente] was as good as we've played against all year, every time when we were able to get back in and they needed a big play, they made it. The way we started the game, the turnovers, the carelessness, the shot selection, it's the same thing we've continued to talk about. They played hard and we didn't handle it to start with. They played really well. They played terrific the other day against Missouri and they came into and shot the ball the best they shot it.
On Kansas State's defense: Past opponents would back off in the lane and try to keep us from going inside and try to make us settle for outside shots. It's been a long time since someone has come out and guarded us. But that's how we play defense too. We were sloppy with the ball and we didn't do the things we talked about carrying over. That's the most disappointing from where I sit. We have certain guys that need to make some plays.
SENIOR GUARD A.J. Abrams
On today's loss: I think we can learn from what we did wrong, but right now it's a big loss and we're going to have to make it up somewhere.
On Denis Clemente: We knew coming in he was a good player, but no one expects that coming in someone will drop 44 points on you. He had a good night. He hit all his threes and was shooting well.
On the first half: We didn't come up with the right intensity we showed in the second half. We should have had that in the first half. We should have been more aggressive.
On Kansas State: We knew coming in they were a good team. We watched film. They have good players and they've been playing good basketball the past few games, we knew we had our hands full.
JUNIOR FORWARD Damion James
On Fred Brown's three-point shot to give Kansas State their final lead: My main focus was just keeping him in front of me. He raised up, I tried to contest the shot but he hit it. I just have to move on. It's just beginning. We have a month ahead, we have a big game ahead against Missouri so we have to take this game and put it behind us.
On preparations for tonight's game: We've really been having a lot tough practices and we knew what we were getting in to. They're a really good defensive team and they're really physical. I don't think we took them lightly; they just threw the first punch and had us on our heels the whole game.
On today's loss: It's not the end of the world, we have to take these games and learn from them. This might be the game that it took to put a spark under us and make us step our game up, losing happens, and we have to be the team that we are and come in and work hard and go at it again.
SOPHOMORE GUARD Justin Mason
On driving more to the basket tonight: I'm proud of the guys for sticking in there seeing that we were down a big margin late in the game. I was just trying to go out there and do what my team needed me to do. Damion [James] and A.J. [Abrams] were really guarded so that left me to drive the lanes.
On Denis Clemente's speed and the fast tempo of the game: He is a great player and he pushes the ball well. The whole Kansas State team kept pressuring us the whole game and I'm sure both teams were tired.
KANSAS STATE QUOTES
HEAD COACH FRED MARTIN
Opening statement: I'm so proud of our kids. I couldn't be prouder. The way that they've stayed the course and continued believing in each other. Our staff, they're the ones that come in and put in the time every single day to make sure the kids that we recruit continue believing in ourselves. This league, the first time you go through it, just beats you up. That's kind of what happened to us out of the gate. We've played hard all year. Oklahoma knocked us upside our head, and then going to Kansas kind of rattled our kids. I'm so proud of them for just continuing to fight and fight and compete with each other in practice and continuing to grow up in games. God, is Texas good. In my nine years in college basketball, I don't think I've ever coached against a team that's more physical than Texas. In the second half, they just threw us around.
On his team's first half performance: I was happy the way we played the first half. That's probably as well as we've played all year, those first 20 minutes of the game on both ends of the floor, consistently. I thought offensively we got the shots we were trying to get in the first half, we just didn't make them. They stayed the course and continued to rebound and defend, and that gave us a chance.
On Denis Clemente: Denis is a heck of a player. He's been making the adjustment after transferring and sitting out last year. That's not easy. I'm so proud of him. He's taken this team, like he should because he's our most experienced player, by the horns here and just led us, especially after the tough times. His personality has taken over our team.
JUNIOR GUARD DENIS CLEMENTE
On his 44-point performance: I was feeling good today. Everything dropped tonight, so I kept shooting. I felt good during shootaround. I knew I needed to score for us to win. It felt like I was shooting into an ocean.
On what he used to get open: I used my speed. I play fast. I'm faster than everybody, that's how I feel.
SOPHOMORE GUARD FRED BROWN
On Clemente's performance: I always knew he could get it going like that. I go against him in practice every day. Once he gets it going, it's hard to stop him. He's a good player.
On his 3-pointer in overtime: It was crunch time. You've got to step up and make plays. I didn't' know there were six seconds on the clock. I said, 'I've got to make a play', and that's what happened.
