For the better part of 21 minutes last night, it seemed that the Texas team which has struggled through its last four-plus games was going to continue down the same path. Colorado found itself wide open for a ton of shots — many of them coming from behind the arc — while Damion James picked up two fouls in less than five minutes and sat for the rest of the first half.

But with the Buffaloes holding a 41-28 lead with only 19 minutes left in the game, the Longhorns were suddenly awakened. A.J. Abrams sparked a 24-2 run over the following eight minutes, and although Colorado slowly clawed back the rest of the way, Texas was able to coast to a 69-67 victory in front of a sold out Frank Erwin Center.

D.J. Augustin led all scorers with 25 points on the night, but struggled a bit in the final minutes of the game as Colorado turned up the defensive pressure. Levi Knutson and Richard Roby were especially stingy defenders against Augustin as Colorado submitted a last-minute comeback bid, but it was not enough.

Augustin’s counterpart in the backcourt also had a solid game, although the first half was a bit rough. Abrams had a quiet first 20 minutes, but kick-started the giant run that put Texas ahead for good. A.J. hit a three and followed it with an old-fashioned three-point play on the ensuing possession to trim the Colorado lead to five points, and the rest of the Horns followed suit. Abrams finished the night with 17 points and had a few key steals in the second half.

One of the biggest issues in the recent Texas slide was the absence of Connor Atchley from the stat sheet, but last night he made a reappearance at key moments. Atch had 15 points and five boards against Colorado, but most importantly didn’t seem afraid to shoot the three and stayed on the ground when the Buffs threw head fakes at him. If Texas is going to find success in the Big 12 and beyond, Connor will have to continue to play at this level.

The other missing Horn has been Justin Mason, and while his offense still looked shaky, his defense and all-around hustle were on display against Colorado. In the middle of the big second-half run, Jay Mase had a great rebound and putback, plus a block and deflected shot on two straight defensive possessions. In the post-game presser, Coach Barnes said that Justin’s solid play had earned him his starting spot again for Monday night’s game with Oklahoma State.

The man who now finds himself on the bench courtesy of that lineup move is Gary Johnson, who is still struggling in his adjustment to the college game. His conditioning may also be an issue, as just four minutes into last night’s game, GJ waved to the bench to ask for a breather. He did come back into the game later, so I’m certain it was not a scare with his heart.

The unfortunate truth is that Gary still looks a little lost out there. It’s tough for freshmen to make the leap, and for a fish coming right into the rigors of Big 12 play, it’s got to be even harder. Hopefully he’ll continue to develop into his role with the team, otherwise I see him as simply another guy being rotated inside along with Alexis Wangmene, Clint Chapman, and Dexter Pittman.

As previously mentioned, James sat for more than 15 minutes in the first half, and the Longhorns suffered. Against a much smaller Colorado team, the Horns found themselves out-hustled and out-boarded by a 17-12 count. In the second half, Texas controlled the boards by a 23-17 count, especially on the offensive glass. Without a doubt, the presence of DaMo inside was a huge reason why the Longhorns were able to come back.

Another key to the comeback was the stifling defense, which held Colorado without a field goal during that stretch. The only points the Buffs managed over the eight minutes came courtesy of two free throws, while they missed four more. The sellout crowd certainly helped things, as Colorado usually plays in front of less than 5,000 folks at home, and their only wins on the road came against Denver, Air Force, and Colorado State. Increased pressure from the Texas D plus 16,000 screaming orangebloods meant disaster for the Buffs, who burned through their timeouts with more than eleven minutes left in the game.

Although a home win is certainly a nice boost, and fighting through the huge deficit speaks volumes about the character of this team, there are still always negatives to pick out. Free throw shooting was still an adventure for the Horns, with a few of the misses coming late in the game and on the front end of one-and-ones. Perhaps fatigue is a factor in the late-game misses, but those types of hiccups in the tourney could spell the end of the season.

There is also the lingering concern about the finishing punch from Texas. In this one, the Horns were up ten points with a little less than five minutes to go and did not score again. We’ve seen the lack of focus in the second half many times throughout the season, including games against teams like North Texas, Rice, Oral Roberts, and TCU, and played poorly for long stretches in the second twenty of the Mizzou and Wisconsin losses. The Horns have really only put together one complete game since UCLA, and they will surely be tested for the full 40 minutes by a handful of teams the rest of the way. If they don’t bear down in the second half the rest of the season, a few more wins will slip away in the final minutes.

But rather than end this post-game with a doom-and-gloom feeling, I’ll direct your attention to Ian Mooney as we close. Although Mooney played only five minutes in this one, his time on the court was solid. His hustle kept alive a couple of rebounds during the run, and he had a great feed from the low post to set up Atchley for a jumper. Ian is clearly not the key to success for Texas, but if he plays like he did in his short stint last night, that’s a great sign for the Longhorn bench.

The next game is less than 24 hours away against Oklahoma State in the dangerous Gallagher-Iba Arena. Game preview will be up before we hit the road in the morning.