The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Pittsburgh
No. 3 Men's Basketball defeats Pittsburgh 78-62 to capture the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic title
11.24.2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2009
Box Score | 
| Box Score 
| Notes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- This was a very costly victory for No. 3 Texas.
Starting guard Varez Ward crumbled onto the court with a right knee injury before the game even started. His replacement, J'Covan Brown, scored 12 points and helped lead the Longhorns past Pittsburgh 78-62 for the championship of the CBE Classic.
But Ward was removed from the arena in a wheelchair and was to be examined on Wednesday in Texas.
"Honestly, I don't think it looks good," said Texas coach Rick Barnes.
Damion James had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Longhorns (4-0), who will return to the same building in March for the Big 12 tournament and a possible showdown with No. 1 Kansas.
But whether Ward is able to play by then was impossible to know.
"I think he just came down and landed wrong," Barnes said. "He wasn't trying to do anything. It was just one of those freak things. He's such a big part of our team. He's had such a great offseason and preseason. It's just one of those tough breaks for him. We're hoping he's going to be OK, but right now it doesn't look real good."
Texas took charge with a 14-3 run in the second half that ended the Panthers' remarkable run of 38 consecutive victories in the month of November.
Pittsburgh (4-1) was led by Brad Wanamaker with 13 points and Gary McGhee with 11.
Avery Bradley and Dexter Pittman each had 10 points for Texas, though Pittman was a non-factor in the second half after picking up an early third foul.
Trailing 32-23 after Gary Johnson hit a jumper with 4:44 left in the first half, the Panthers finished with an 11-0 run and shocked the favored Longhorns by taking a 34-32 lead at the break.
Gary McGhee made two free throws in the surge and then Lamar Patterson hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 35-second span to tie it up. Dante Taylor, fouled by Gary Johnson, sank two free throws with 33 seconds left to send the Panthers into halftime with their first lead of the night.
But the Longhorns finally regained the lead at 44-43 on Johnson's two free throws following an intentional foul call on Brad Wanamaker. The next 5 minutes saw four more lead changes and one tie before Texas pulled away with a 14-3 run, fueled by James' three-point play and Jordan Hamilton's 3-pointer. Justin Mason's gliding lay-in gave the Longhorns a 63-54 lead with 7:27 to go and then Alexis Wangmene's short jumper made it 65-54 before Wanamaker's three-point play halted the surge.
"It just came down to execution and they executed better in the second half than we did," said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. "They got better shots than we did, that's the bottom line. The percentages indicate that. They shoot 65 percent in the second half, we shoot 37 percent."
Pittman, after scoring 10 points in the first half, picked up his third foul in the opening minutes of the second half and wound up with only 10 points and one rebound. But neither he nor Ward was sorely missed by the talented Longhorns.
"They're a pretty good team. You have to give them your respect," said Wanamaker. "They're long and athletic and well coached. But we still think we should have won the game."
Pittsburgh had not lost in November since South Florida beat the Panthers 69-63 on Nov. 25, 2001.
POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM
- Started the season 4-0 for the fifth time in the last eight years
- Scored 70 or more points in each of the first four games of the season for the first time since the 2004-05 season
- Texas has had four players score 10 or more points in all four games this season
- Texas had five players score 10 or more points for the third time this season
- Outshot the Hawkeyes .527-.400 for the game, including .654-.367 in the second half
- The Longhorns have shot over .500 from the field in all four games this season
- The Longhorns shot a combined .660 (35-of-53) from the field in the second halves of their two games in Kansas City and have shot better than .600 in the second half of three games this season
Dogus Balbay
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the first time this season and the fourth time in his career
- Equaled a career high with eight rebounds, matching his total against Oklahoma at home last season (2-21-09)
Avery Bradley
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the third time in his career
- Played a career-high 29 minutes, topping his 23 minutes of action against Iowa in the previous game
J'COVAN BROWN
- Reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the fourth time in his career
- Equaled a career high with three assists, matching his total against Western Carolina
- Played a career-high 23 minutes, topping the 21 minutes of action he saw in each of the first two games of the season
Damion James
- Named O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Most Valuable Player
- Reached double figures in scoring (20 points) for fourth time this season and the 73rd time in 112 career games
- Scored 20 or more points for the second time this season and the 12th time in his career
- Led team in scoring for the third time this season and the 17th time in his career
- Increased his career points total to 1,375 to move within two points of Larry Robinson (1,377 - 1972-74) for 16th place on the UT career scoring list
- Increased his career rebound total to 1,011 to move within four of Nebraska's Aleks Maric (1,015 - 2005-08) for fifth place on the Big 12 Conference career rebounding list
Dexter Pittman
- Named to O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic All-Tournament Team
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the third time this season and the 21st time in 104 career games
Varez Ward
- Sustained right knee injury during pre-game warm-ups and was unable to play
