The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
10-1,4-0Big 12
West Virginia
9-4,2-3Big 12
Andrew Jones’ late three leads No. 4/4 Men’s Basketball to 72-70 win at No. 14/16 West Virginia
01.09.2021 | Men's Basketball
Jones converts a corner three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to help the Longhorns win their sixth-straight contest.
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Junior guard Andrew Jones buried a three-pointer from the right corner with 1.8 seconds left to lift No. 4/4 Texas (10-1, 4-0 Big 12) to a come-from-behind 72-70 victory at No. 14/16 West Virginia (9-4, 2-3 Big 12) on Saturday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum. Jones, who earlier in the game became the 39th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point milestone, posted 16 points while converting 4-of-7 threes.
Junior guard Courtney Ramey registered a game-high 19 points, five rebounds and a team-best six assists, including the pass on the game-winning basket by Jones. Freshman forward Greg Brown recorded a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 14 rebounds. Senior guard Matt Coleman III tallied 13 points, and sophomore forward Kai Jones added 10 points and four boards.
Texas jumped out to a 13-8 advantage after a Ramey layup at the 16:05 mark. The Mountaineers used a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to build an 18-13 cushion with 13:13 remaining.
An Andrew Jones three-pointer gave the Longhorns a 19-18 lead at the 11:52 mark, and that would be the final advantage of the game for Texas until Jones' heroics later in the final seconds. West Virginia converted 50-percent (14-28) from the floor, including a 6-of-13 (.462) mark from three-point range, while claiming a 40-36 halftime lead.
The Mountaineers increased their margin to as much as nine points (54-45) following three free throws from Sean McNeil with 13:49 left. Trailing 57-49 after a Miles McBride three-pointer at the 11:02 mark, the Longhorns scored eight consecutive points to tie the score at 57-57 with 8:37 remaining.
Down 70-65 following a Taz Sherman jumper at the 1:41 mark, Coleman hit a pair of free throws and Ramey converted a driving layup to pull Texas within 70-69 with 55 seconds left. Emmitt Matthews Jr. missed a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining, leaving the door open for Ramey to penetrate into the lane and find Andrew Jones for the game-winner.
Texas returns to action when it hosts No. 18/19 Texas Tech on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Tip is set for 8 p.m. CT at the Frank Erwin Center, and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
#4/4 Texas 72, #14/16 West Virginia 70
January 9, 2021
WVU Coliseum (Morgantown, W. Va.)
Attendance: 305
Team Notes
- Texas continued its best start in Big 12 Conference play (4-0) since the 2010-11 season (started league play with an 11-0 mark that year).
- UT's 10-1 record is the program's best 11-game start since the 2014-15 season (10-1). Texas has won its last six games.
- Texas improved to 3-1 this season against AP ranked opponents with wins against No. 14/16 North Carolina (neutral site), No. 3/4 Kansas (road) and No. 14/16 West Virginia (road).
- The Longhorns have now won seven contests during the Shaka Smart era (last six years) on game-winning field goals in the final 2.0 seconds. Andrew Jones hit a right corner three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left on the clock in Saturday's victory. Earlier this year, Matt Coleman III converted a foul-line jumper with 0.1 second left to beat then-No. 14/16 North Carolina (Dec. 2).
- UT improved to 4-0 this year in games decided by three points or less.
- Texas improved to 2-0 in true road games this year with wins at No. 3/4 Kansas (Jan. 2) and No. 14/16 West Virginia (today). The Longhorns also are 3-0 in neutral-site contests this season.
- The Longhorns improved to 2-1 when trailing at halftime (WVU led 40-36).
- UT rallied from a nine-point deficit (54-45) with 13:49 left in the contest. This marked the largest deficit that Texas has faced this year (51-43 vs. Villanova at the 12:24 mark of the second half).
- It also marked the largest comeback win this season (previous: trailed 23-16 vs. Davidson at the 10:39 mark of the first half). UT's also faced six-point deficits against in Big 12 home wins against Oklahoma State (15-9, 10:18 in first half) and Iowa State (16-10, 13:35 in first half).
- The Longhorns registered a 40-22 advantage in points in the paint.
- Texas limited WVU to 30 points on 29.4-percent FG shooting (10-34), including a 3-of-12 (.250) mark from three-point range, in the second half.
- UT improved to 13-9 in the all-time series against West Virginia.
- Shaka Smart recorded his 100th win as head coach at Texas (100-79).
- Recorded a double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) for the fourth time this year and in his career (11 games)
- Tied his season high in rebounds (14)
- Set a career high in minutes played (33), previous: 26 vs. Oklahoma State (Dec. 20)
- Reached double figures in scoring for the eighth time this year and in his career
- Reached double figures in rebounds for the fourth time this year and in his career
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the ninth time this year (11 games) and 64th time in his career (112 games)
- Converted a right corner three-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining that proved to be the game-winning basket
- This marked his second career game-winning shot, as he previously drained a three-pointer from 25-feet with 1.8 seconds left to lift Texas to an 84-83 home win against Oklahoma on Jan. 23, 2017 (his freshman season).
- With his made 3-pointer at the 1:17 mark of the first half, he became the 39th player in UT program history to reach the 1,000-career point milestone.
- Reached double figures in scoring (16 points) for the eighth time this year (10 games) and 52nd time in his career (86 games)
- Set a season high in three-point field goals made (4-7), previous: 3, twice
- Registered a team-best plus-minus total of +13 in 35 minutes played
- Reached double figures in scoring (10 points) for the fifth time this year (11 games) and seventh time in his career (38 games)
- Tied his career high in steals (2)
- Reached double figures in scoring (team-high 19 points) for the 10th time this year (11 games) and 47th time in his career (79 games)
- Added a game-high 6 assists (one shy of his season high), including the pass to Andrew Jones for the game-winning three-pointer
- Tied his season high in field goals made (7-11)
- Tied his season high in rebounds (5)
