The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
15-8, 5-5
Oklahoma
16-6, 6-4
Men's Basketball upsets No. 12/15 Oklahoma, 79-74
02.03.2018 | Men's Basketball
Freshman guard Matt Coleman posted a career-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
AUSTIN, Texas –– Freshman guard Matt Coleman posted a career-high 22 points, and junior guard Kerwin Roach II poured in 19 as Texas Men's Basketball upset No. 12/15 Oklahoma, 79-74, on Saturday night at the Erwin Center. Coleman converted 8-of-13 shooting from the field and went 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Roach shot 7-of-11 from the field, while adding four assists and four boards.
Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski finished with 15 points, including an 8-of-10 mark from the free throw line, while freshman forward Mohamed Bamba rounded out the double-digit scoring effort with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Texas defense forced 17 Sooner turnovers and held OU to just 3-of-22 (13.6%) shooting from beyond the arc, including 10 percent (1-of-10) in the second half.
The Longhorns held an early 10-9 lead at the 15:53 mark after a Coleman jumper, but Oklahoma used an 8-0 spurt to pull ahead 26-17 with 8:46 remaining in the first half. Eric Davis Jr. knocked down his second three from the corner to trim the Texas deficit to five (32-27) with 5:42 left.
UT held OU scoreless for a 3:04 stretch to pull within 34-33 after a steal and dunk by Roach II at the 2:23 mark. Osetkowksi connected from the charity stripe with 28 seconds, and Texas headed to the locker room trailing 40-35.
Osetkowski paced the Longhorns with nine points to go along with his three boards in the first half. Roach II added eight points, including two 3-pointers, while Bamba contributed six points and five boards in 17 minutes. Texas was 12-of-30 from the field in the opening 20 minutes and shot 40 percent from the three-point line. The UT defense held the Sooners to just 2-of-12 (16.7%) shooting from three-point range in the opening half.
Oklahoma recorded seven straight points to build a double-digit (50-40) advantage with 16:18 remaining. The Longhorns responded with a 12-2 run of their own, fueled by eight points from Coleman, to even the contest at 52-52 with 12:23 left.
Texas trailed by nine (66-57) at the 7:54 mark after the Sooners knocked down four straight field goals, but the UT defense forced Oklahoma into a four-minute scoring drought as Texas regained its first lead (68-66) since the 15:53 mark in the first half. Texas led 74-70 after a pair of Coleman free throws with 1:44 remaining. Davis Jr. fed Bamba for an alley-oop, and Osetkowski connected from the charity stripe with 25 seconds left to seal the victory.
Trae Young paced Oklahoma with 19 points and 14 assists but was limited to 7-of-22 shooting from the floor, including a 2-of-14 mark from behind the arc.
The Longhorns will be back at the Erwin Center to face Kansas State on Wednesday, Feb 7. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. Central, and the game will be televised nationally on Longhorn Network.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 79, #12/15 Oklahoma 74
February 3, 2018
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 15,533
Team Notes
- Texas posted its third consecutive home win against an AP Top 20 opponent (defeated No. 16 TCU 99-98 2ot on Jan. 10; defeated No. 8 Texas Tech 67-58 on Jan. 17).
- UT improved to 38-54 all-time against Oklahoma. Texas has won 17 of the last 26 meetings in the series. The Longhorns are 22-18 against the Sooners in games played in Austin.
- UT improved to 498-121 all-time in games at the Erwin Center. Texas improved to 226-38 at the Erwin Center in the last 16 seasons (dating to the start of the 2002-03 season). UT is 35-12 at home during the Shaka Smart era (11-2 this season).
- Oklahoma entered today's contest leading the Big 12 in team 3-point FG percentage in conference games (.421). The Longhorns held the Sooners to 13.6% (3-22) from beyond the arc.
- Texas converted 20-of-27 (.741) from the free throw line, while Oklahoma hit 7-of-11 (.636) from the stripe.
- Oklahoma's Trae Young entered the game leading the Big 12 in scoring in conference games at 33.7 ppg. UT limited Young to 19 points on 7-of-22 FG, including a 2-of-14 mark from three-point range.
- Oklahoma led 66-57 at the 7:54 mark of the second half. Texas used a 13-0 run over the next 4:13 to grab a 70-66 advantage with 3:41 remaining. The Horns did not trail the remainder of the contest.
- In the second half, Texas posted a 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers. Texas committed just 4 turnovers in the final 20 minutes while forcing 11 OU turnovers.
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the 17th time this season (22 games)
- Set a career high in scoring (22 points) – previous high was 19 vs. Gonzaga (Nov. 26)
- Set a career high in FG made (8-13) – previous high was 7 (twice)
- Topped the 20-point mark for the first time in his career (23 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring for the ninth time this season
- Reached double figures in scoring (15 points) for the 18th time this season (23 games)
- His 8 free throws made (in 10 attempts) were one shy of his season high (9 vs. TCU on Jan. 10)
- Reached double figures in scoring (19 points) for the 14th time this season (21 games) and 40th time in his career (86 games)
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS
Head Coach Shaka Smart
Opening statement: I'm so appreciative of our students and all our fans for the way that they supported us all day long. I thought the atmosphere at (ESPN) College GameDay was awesome – that had a lot to do with (sophomore guard) Andrew Jones; showing the level of support for him and also for our team. That carried over into a big win for women's team, and then the crowd tonight was phenomenal. They really gave us a lift, because we didn't have great energy early on. I think there was a level of fatigue that those guys felt from a pretty long week, but I'm proud of the fact that they really found more. They just were able to find enough to be within striking distance for the whole game, and then to make that big run at the end and knock them back and win.
On the fan support for ESPN College GameDay and having a packed arena for the game: The turnout at GameDay was phenomenal. I want to give a lot of credit to all the folks that work in our administration that really pushed to get a great group here, and obviously all of the students and fans that came out. I think it set a tone because our guys saw that and they were a little bit surprised. That was one of the best GameDay atmospheres, the ESPN guys said, that they've had. And then there was a ton of energy in the building when the game started, and we needed that because our guys weren't at our best early on. We were a little bit on our heels. I think they wanted to win so bad, it got away from the focus that we needed to do in terms of our process. But they hung in there. Our guys battled and fought. Our theme that we talked about was just finish the game, because obviously we struggled to do that on Wednesday (at Texas Tech). Our guys did a nice job at the foul line and overall just finishing the game.
On freshman guard Matt Coleman sparking the comeback in the second half: I told him he had to. We called a timeout, we were down 10 and I was just pleading with these guys to get back to the process. Get back to each other. Fix your face, is what we say in our program all the time because some of them had this look on their face like they were frustrated. Then coming out of the huddle, I grabbed Matt and I said, "Matt, if we play with spirit we'll win the game," and he of all people knows what I mean by that and he did a great job leading. "It starts with you," it starts with one guy and then getting to another guy. (Freshman forward) Mohamed (Bamba) wasn't at his best tonight. He's a little banged up from the other night, but he didn't cave, you know, he kept fighting. Matt was able to bring some good stuff out of him. (Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski) didn't have his best offensive night, but I thought he led the charge in terms of just a toughness with us. We tried to deny (Oklahoma guard) Trae Young, he helped us there, so that's what you have to do in games like this.
On junior forward Dylan Osetkowski's effort: I was pleased. You know he has not played offensively in a particularly pretty manner of late. He has had a few of these games where percentage-wise it has not been great. He's made some great post moves, but it hasn't gone. My big emphasis to him was, "We don't have time for you to be frustrated. Get outside of yourself," and he really did that. He led the charge with an aggressive mindset down the stretch. We certainly need to get him playing better offensively, and he will. But he made free throws tonight and to have 15 points on a night when he was 3-for-14, we'll certainly take that. Just need to keep working with him and getting him better on those plays we're talking about.
On what this game means for the program: I think the environment, the fans were awesome for the (recruits) that were here. What they saw was The University of Texas playing in front of a sold-out crowd, an unbelievable atmosphere, an atmosphere earlier today at GameDay that was terrific and our guys gritting it out and finding a way to win. We want to display that as much as we can. I told our guys in the locker room (that) I'm proud of the way they approached this week. We didn't finish on Wednesday and that's why we lost. Texas Tech deserves a lot of credit, but all week long our guys have had a level of grit and toughness, trying to follow our plan. It hasn't been the prettiest. There are a lot of things we need to get better at, but if we can approach weeks like we did this week and then finish, we have a chance to win a lot of games.
Junior Guard Kerwin Roach II
On Trae [Young]: At the end of the day, you just try to make it tough on him and players like him. They're still going to get theirs with 19-14--that's a great stat line. I would love to have that stat line as well. Knowing him, he's averaging 30-40 points a game, so you just try to make it tough for him. Another way we did it was collectively, as a team. Not one person just did it. Matt and I went harder for a good amount of time and our team chipped in and helped us. We have each others' backs and I think that's one thing that separates us from any other team. We really, truly do genuinely care for each other. We just go out there and play with our defense.
On offense: We were trying to get the match-up and get us switched with Trae Young and just go head on. You know he doesn't want to foul us, because he wants to stay in the game. So we just go at him and try to get into the lane.
Freshman Guard Matt Coleman
On making free throws: Good. It's all good. It's all about response. It was uncharacteristic of me last game to miss three-straight free throws in a row. Coming back today, you still live to see another day. At the end of the day, we just have to fight. When my number was called again to make my free throws, I did, thank God.
On his emotions: I just treat every game as a gift and opportunity. The crowd really gave us that extra oomph. I was just trying to use that to our advantage while they were enthusiastic. And then on the other end, we were playing against Oklahoma and probably the future national player of the year, so you just feed of those things right there. At the end of the day, we're not fighting to win, but we're fighting for Andrew (Jones).
Freshman Forward Mohamed Bamba
On Texas' defense: Yeah, there's actually some rhyme and reason there. One of our game plans was to blitz the ball screens to get the ball out of Trae's hand. With blitzing him, you didn't want to be too overly aggressive where he could easily get around the screen or go the other way on you or even split it. So I had to give him a little space and he just kept picking up his dribble. I think we just got more and more aggressive over time and that did it for us.
On College Game Day excitement: It was really nice. It's a once in a life time opportunity. We got out there and we capitalized on it.
On the alley op: Eric [Davis Jr.] told me before the game that he was going to throw me a lob. He said he was going to throw me one off the backboard. I looked at him and read him and he didn't want to throw it, but he was like, "dang, I promised him." So he threw it and it was a little short, so I had to improvise.
OKLAHOMA
Head Coach Lon Kruger
On overall game: It was a tough battle. Obviously, we were in pretty good shape for 35 minutes and didn't handle things in the last five. Texas fought hard, but I also think that guys on both sides battled and fought hard. Overall, congrats to Texas, they did what they needed to do and we've got to bounce back and do some things better.
On [Matt] Coleman and [Kerwin] Roach: I was not surprised that Coleman and Roach took over the game. They're both very good players. They did a great job, especially when the game was in balance. They both stepped up and made big plays. Coleman shot the ball well when Texas needed it. I think they both did a really good job.
On back-to-back poor possessions in front of bench: We had some loose possessions when we're trying to go from up from 6-7 there to down four pretty quickly. During that stretch, we didn't do things quite like we needed to do. We've got to bounce back, and they converted some going the other way because of our loose possessions.
On overall team shot selection: Texas is good defensively, so there were moments where we had a bit longer to get some better looks, but that's the case in every game.
Freshman guard Trae Young
On if he got worn down today: No, I don't think I got worn down today. I don't think that we kept it on our side. Texas had a good run at the five minute mark and kept it going. I don't think it was me being worn down.
On first 20 minutes of game: I wasn't surprised that we got closed in the first 20 minutes. I knew there were going to be drives and handouts in the paint. In the second half, we had time to make halftime adjustments and they did a better job at closing the gap in the second half.
On shooting: All of my shots were either short or long, which can either be good or bad. Some of my shots were off balance, but mostly they were all aligned. I try to find different ways to affect the game. Jamuni [McNeace] was doing good inside and so I tried to find him for lobs. I was trying to get everyone involved.
On Coleman: Matt did really good tonight. I've been playing against Matt since high school, so I know how he plays. I can tell he's been working on his shot, but he did really well tonight. Their whole team did very well, Roach played well in the second half, and Mo did what he did. It was a really good game.
