AUSTIN (KXAN) — Oklahoma outscored Texas 11-6 in the final 3:29 to hold off Texas 76-72 in Southeastern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday at Moody Center.
The Sooners burst into the lead with a 5-0 flurry, capped by a Duke Miles bucket and foul shot with 2:42 left. After Arthur Kaluma hit a free throw for the Longhorns, Brycen Goodine drained a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma a 73-67 lead with 2:11 left.
Oklahoma played tremendous defense against the SEC’s leading scorer, Texas freshman Tre Johnson. He didn’t have a field goal, finishing the game 0-for-14 with seven points from foul shots. He still impacted the game with six rebounds and six assists, but the Sooners quickly double-teamed him as soon as he touched the ball on most possessions.
“It was a possession-by-possession thing, trying to run multiple guys at him,” Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser said. “Our guys had a confident respect for him, knowing how good of a scorer he is, and they took on the challenge. You can’t have one man on an island and guard him.”
Johnson said he missed a lot of open shots and “needs to look at himself in the mirror.”
Texas had a shot to tie the game after Miles missed two foul shots with 2.2 seconds left. Johnson grabbed the rebound and quickly called timeout with 1.9 seconds left, allowing the Longhorns to set up a final play. The inbound pass made it to half court but was intercepted by Goodine, who drilled a foul shot to put the game out of reach.
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Jordan Pope led the Longhorns with 21 points on 7 of 9 shooting, with key buckets late in the game to keep his team in it. Pope made 4 of 5 3-point attempts, his last one coming with 6.5 seconds remaining to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 75-72. Arthur Kaluma and Tramon Mark scored 12 points each while Julian Larry had 10.
Oklahoma scored 20 points off 10 Texas turnovers, and the Sooners turned it over five times.
Goodine led the Sooners with 14 points and freshman Jeremiah Fears had 13. Miles finished with 11 points and Jalon Moore grabbed seven rebounds.
Texas (17-14, 6-12 SEC) will play in the first round of the SEC tournament March 14 in Nashville against Vanderbilt. The Longhorns are behind the proverbial 8-ball when it comes to making the NCAA tournament, and they’ll need to make a deep run in the SEC tournament if they want to extend their season.
“We have some opportunities in front of us,” Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry said. “My guys have played really hard down the stretch, and there’s still basketball to be played and we’ve got to be ready for that. You’re guaranteed one game right now.”
