The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
11-3,5-2Big 12
Oklahoma
10-4,6-3Big 12
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 43 | 37 | 80 |
| Texas | 34 | 45 | 79 |
No. 5/5 Men’s Basketball falls 80-79 to No. 24/nr Oklahoma
01.26.2021 | Men's Basketball
Kai Jones records his first career double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) in exceptional effort from short-handed Longhorns.
AUSTIN, Texas — Sophomore forward Kai Jones registered his first collegiate double-double with 15 points and a career-best 10 rebounds, but short-handed No. 5/5 Texas (11-3, 5-2 Big 12) dropped a hard-fought 80-79 decision to No. 24/nr Oklahoma (10-4, 6-3 Big 12) on Tuesday night at the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns played without head coach Shaka Smart (Covid-19 protocols) and had just eight available scholarship players for Tuesday's contest.
Courtney Ramey, Jericho Sims and Brock Cunningham were not available for Tuesday's game. In addition, the Longhorns had no more than five players able to practice for the majority of the previous week and only had the services of their eight scholarship players available for practice beginning on Monday.
Kai Jones converted 5-of-11 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws while adding a career-high three assists, two blocks and two steals in a career-high 37 minutes of action. Freshman forward Greg Brown registered 14 points and eight boards in 31 minutes, while junior guard Andrew Jones added 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes.
Senior guard Matt Coleman III contributed 13 points and four assists, and sophomore guard Donovan Williams tallied a season-high 11 points. Senior forward Royce Hamm Jr. posted a season-high seven points, five boards and two assists.
Trailing 6-3 at the 17:16 mark, the Longhorns used an 11-0 run to build a 14-6 cushion following a Coleman floater with 12:35 left in the first half. Oklahoma answered with a 13-0 run of its own over the next 90 seconds to take a 19-14 advantage after a De'Vion Harmon three-pointer at the 10:51 mark. Despite battling foul trouble, Texas stayed in the fight in the opening half before a late 5-0 spurt in the final 40 seconds gave the Sooners a 43-34 lead at the break.
Oklahoma pushed the margin to as much as 12 points (48-36) following an Elijah Harkless three-point play at the 17:48 mark. Trailing 58-47 with 12:40 remaining, the Longhorns used an 11-4 run to climb within 62-58 after an Andrew Jones layup at the 9:34 mark. Facing a 78-70 deficit at the 3:49 mark, Texas scored seven consecutive points to close the gap to 78-77 on a Coleman layup with 37 seconds left.
Austin Reaves converted a pair of free throws to give Oklahoma an 80-77 lead with 18 seconds left. Andrew Jones knocked down two free throws to trim the margin to 80-79 with five seconds remaining. The Sooners then missed a pair of free throws with two seconds left, but Texas could not convert on a length-of-the-court inbounds pass.
The Longhorns return to action when they travel to face Kentucky in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 30. Tip is set for 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) at Rupp Arena, and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
#24/nr Oklahoma 80, #5/5 Texas 79
January 26, 2021
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 0
Team Notes
- UT played for the first time in 10 days. The Longhorns were last in action during an 82-67 home win vs. K-State on Jan. 16.
- Texas played without head coach Shaka Smart (Covid-19 protocols).
- The Longhorns had just eight available scholarship players for tonight's game. Brock Cunningham, Courtney Ramey and Jericho Sims were not available for tonight's game.
- Texas dropped to 260-55 at the Erwin Center in the last 19 seasons (dating back to the start of the 2002-03 season). UT is 69-29 at home during the Shaka Smart era (6-3 this season).
- The Longhorns registered a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint and an 18-12 edge in second-chance points.
- Texas posted a plus-5 rebound margin (45-40). The Longhorns have now outrebounded 10 of their first 14 opponents (8-2 mark in those games).
- In the second half, UT converted 50-percent from the floor (15-30) and went a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line. The Longhorns held the Sooners to 39.3-percent field goal shooting (11-28), including a 30.8-percent mark (4-13), in the second half.
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the ninth time this year and in his career (13 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the 11th time this year (14 games) and 66th time in his career (115 games)
- Played a season-high 24 minutes, previous: 22 vs. K-State (Jan. 16)
- Made his first start of the season (12 games), eighth of his career (80 games) and first since March 7, 2020 (vs. Oklahoma State)
- Set a season high in points (7), previous: 5 vs. UTRGV (Nov. 25)
- Set a season high in field goals made (3-4), previous: 2, four times
- Set a season high in assists (2), previous: 1 vs. North Carolina (Dec. 2)
- Knocked down the first three-point field goal of his career
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the 11th time this year (13 games) and 55th time in his career (89 games)
- Set a season high in rebounds (8), previous: 7, twice (also one shy of his career high – 9 vs. Iowa State on Feb. 7, 2017)
- Set a season high in free throws made (7-8), previous: 6 vs. Sam Houston State (Dec. 16) – also one shy of his career high – 8 vs. Arkansas (Dec. 17, 2016)
- Set a season high in minutes (38), previous: 37 vs. Iowa State (Jan. 5)
- Tied his season high in assists (4)
- Recorded a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) for the first time in his career (40 games)
- Set a career high in rebounds (10), previous: 9 vs. Iowa State (Jan. 5, 2021)
- Set a career high in assists (3), previous: 2, twice
- Set a career high in minutes (37), previous: 35 vs. TCU (Feb. 19, 2020)
- Reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time this year (13 games) and eighth time in his career
- Reached double figures in rebounds for the first time in his career
- Set a season high in free throws made (4-6), previous: 3, three times
- Tied his season high in blocks (2)
- Made his second start of the season and 12th of his career
- Reached double figures in scoring (11 points) for the first time this year (10 games) and third time in his career (36 games)
- His 11 points were two shy of his career high (13, twice)
- Tied his career high in field goals made (5-10), also had 5 vs. Prairie View A&M on Nov. 15, 2019
- Set his season high in assists (2), previous: 1 vs. Iowa State (Jan. 5)
