It seemed like a familiar script for Longhorn fans. Build a big lead, let a team storm back into it, and then blow the game by a slim margin. So when a nine point Texas lead had evaporated in only three minutes, it seemed like the inevitable ending was just moments away.

But Damion James was fouled with only 1.6 seconds left on the clock and the score knotted at 72. Finally, it was a chance to re-write the script. He headed to the line, facing directly into the black and gold student section, where the Buffalo fans leaned down and pounded on their seatbacks. He needed to make just one to seal the win. This was it. Texas could put the demons to rest.

Until both free throws clanged off the iron.

With the weight of those misses on his shoulder, James played like a man possessed in the ensuing five-minute overtime. He ripped down six of his 14 rebounds in the extra session and added six of his 21 points as Texas pulled away. Ironically, two of those points came at the line, with the lead safely in hand.

The problem is that most Texas fans won’t remember that. They will only remember the pair of awful metallic thuds as James missed his chance to be the hero.

Fans also won’t remember the fact that the Longhorn offense played exceptionally well for the second straight game, shooting a season-high 57.4% from the field. The previous high had come just four days prior, when Texas blazed past Oklahoma State with a 52.2% clip. As a result of the hot shooting, Texas’ efficiency numbers were also sky high once again. The Longhorns posted a 124.5 offensive efficiency rating, their third-highest performance of the season.

The one constant in both of those games? Significant minutes for point guard Dogus Balbay. The Turkish sophomore played 37 of the 45 minutes against Colorado after seeing the floor for 33 against Oklahoma State. Prior to those two games, Balbay was averaging just 15.6 minutes per contest.

His presence on the court makes the offense flow, which was painfully obvious when he was taken out with roughly ten minutes left in the first half. In the two minutes he sat on the bench, Texas seemed content to pass the ball around the arc, yet still turned it over twice. With the ball in his hands, the Longhorns throw away far fewer possessions, as he’s posted a ridiculous 7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in these last two games.

Balbay’s presence also opens things up for sharpshooter A.J. Abrams. The senior guard had 29 points, and scored 20 against Oklahoma State. In the previous five games, he was averaging 15 points per contest. While the scoring boost is a nice result, the real reason that Balbay’s emergence is a massive development is the fact that it keeps A.J. from forcing bad shots. In these last two games, Abrams scored his 49 points on 61% shooting, including 56% behind the arc. In the previous four, he shot 38% from the field. Simply put, Balbay makes Abrams better.

Three-point defense was not a huge issue throughout the game, but once again it reared its head at the worst possible time. Colorado shot just 5-of-14 from long range, but hit two out of three attempts in the second half as they clawed into at a ten-point Texas advantage. The Longhorns have an awful tendency to let teams eat away at huge deficits by making hay from behind the arc. Against a team with more long-range consistency than the Buffaloes, that will be deadly.

Texas also struggled on the glass, which is quite embarrassing when you look at the height disparity between the two teams. The Buffs play with four guards for most of the game, none of which are taller than 6’6″. Add in the fact that Colorado’s leading rebounder was their 6’5″ off guard, and it’s a definite cause for concern. The worst offender for Texas was Gary Johnson, who laid a big fat goose egg on the stat sheet despite being the team’s second-best man on the glass. The Longhorns are going to face much stronger rebounders in Oklahoma and Kansas, so a performance like this will absolutely scuttle any chances of upsetting those teams.

Obviously, the collapse down the stretch is also a huge reason for concern. After all, it seems like it’s only about the 874th time that Texas has done it this year. But Longhorn fans can take some solace in the fact that, for once, this team did make the necessary plays to pull out the victory.