Men's Basketball tops Lipscomb, 81-66, to win NIT Championship

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Senior forward Dylan Osetkowski recorded a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Kerwin Roach II added 16 points and a career-high 9 assists to lead The University of Texas Men's Basketball team (21-16) to a 81-66 win against Lipscomb (29-8) in the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. With the victory, the Longhorns captured their second NIT Championship in program history (also won in 1978).

Osetkowski ended his Longhorn career notching his sixth double-double of the season, while converting 5-of-10 field goals, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He also tied a career high with 5 assists without committing a turnover and added 3 steals in 31 minutes.

Roach hit 6-of-12 field goals and posted 5 rebounds and 2 steals in his final collegiate game. Sophomore guard Jase Febres tallied 17 points and 5 rebounds, while sophomore guard Matt Coleman III added 11 points, 7 assists against just a single turnover and tied a career high with 4 steals.

After starting the game by missing their first eight field goal attempts, the Longhorns connected on four of their next five, including a pair of 3-pointers by Osetkowski, to take a 10-6 lead at the 12:47 mark. A Rob Marberry layup capped a 7-2 spurt to give Lipscomb a 20-17 advantage with 8:04 remaining.

Trailing 22-19 at the 6:42 mark, Texas closed the first half on a 22-5 run to take a 14-point cushion (41-27) into the break. The Longhorns held Lipscomb to 38.5-percent FG shooting (10-26), including a 2-of-6 mark (.333) from three-point range, and forced 12 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

Lipscomb opened the second half with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to seven points (41-34) following a Nathan Moran three-pointer at the 16:35 mark. Leading 46-39 with 12:23 remaining, UT knocked down five of its next six three-point attempts over a four-minute span to build a 64-51 cushion after a Febres three at the 8:07 mark.

The lead did not dip below 10 points the rest of the way. The Longhorns increased their advantage to as much as 22 (77-55) after another Febres three-pointer with 4:29 left.

Texas Basketball Postgame Notes

Texas 81, Lipscomb 66

NIT Championship Game

April 4, 2019

Madison Square Garden (New York, N.Y.)

Attendance: 4,051

Team Notes

Texas captured its second NIT Championship. The Longhorns also won the 1978 NIT title (16-team event).
The Longhorns improved to 11-3 all-time in five NIT appearances, including a perfect 4-0 mark in NIT contests played at Madison Square Garden.
Texas improved to 3-0 in the all-time series against Lipscomb.
The Longhorns held Lipscomb to 39.3-percent FG shooting (22-56), including a 5-of-17 (.294) mark from three-point range.
In the five games during the NIT, Texas held its opponents to a combined 27.6-percent mark (27-98) from three-point range.
UT posted a team season-high 23 assists (previous: 22 vs. Grand Canyon on Dec. 15) on 28 field goals made and committed just 10 turnovers.
The Longhorns posted a 16-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
UT converted 12-of-13 (.923) free throws during the contest, including a perfect 10-of-10 in the first half.
Texas hit 13-of-37 (.351) from three-point range. UT improved to 11-4 this year when reaching double digits in three-point FG made.
Texas ended the first half on a 22-5 run over the last 6:42 (trailed 22-19) to take a 41-27 halftime advantage.
In the final three games of the NIT (Colorado, TCU and Lipscomb), UT posted an average first-half scoring margin of 39-21. In the first half of those three contests, the Longhorns limited their opponents to a combined 32-percent FG shooting (24-75), including an 18.8-percent mark (3-16) from three-point range.
Texas extended its streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 962. The last time UT did not convert a three-pointer came on Dec. 18, 1990, in an 87-84 OT victory at UC Santa Barbara.

Matt Coleman III

Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the 17th time this year (37 games) and 33rd time in his career (71 games)
Tied his career high in steals (4)

Jase Febres

Reached double figures in scoring (17 points) for the 14th time this year (37 games) and 18th time in his career (68 games)
Concluded the year with 89 three-pointers made, the ninth-best total in UT season history
Concluded the year with 239 three-pointers attempted, the ninth-highest total in UT season history

Gerald Liddell

Set a career high in points (7), previous: 3 vs. Colorado on March 27
Set a career high in FG made (3), previous: 1, four times

Dylan Osetkowski

Recorded a double-double (game-high 19 points, game-high 11 rebounds) for the sixth time this year (36 games) and ninth time in his UT career (70 games)
Reached double figures in scoring for the 20th time this year and 45th time in his UT career
Reached double figures in rebounds for the ninth time this season and 14th time in his UT career
Tied his career high in assists (5) without a turnover, also had 5 vs. Duke on Nov. 24, 2017

Courtney Ramey

Had primary defensive responsibility on Lipscomb's leading scorer Garrison Mathews (entered the game averaging 21.0 ppg)
Held Mathews to 15 points on 2-of-10 FG shooting, including a 1-of-5 mark from three-point range (entered game with season percentages of 44.8 FG and 40.6 3FG)

Kerwin Roach II

Set a career high in assists (9), previous: 8, three times
Reached double figures in scoring (16 points) for the 26th time this year (30 games) and 72nd time in his career (127 games)
Moved past Chris Mihm (1,404) on UT's all-time career scoring list and finished his career ranked 16th in school history with 1,411 points in 127 games