The Texas Longhorns played their best team game of the year last night, routing Oklahoma State 83-54 in front of a huge home crowd and a national audience on ESPN. The loss was the third in the last four games for the Cowboys (19-6 overall, 5-5 Big 12) and continued a streak of futility on the road in conference play dating to February 4th of last year. For the Longhorns (18-7, 8-3), the victory made their coach the winningest one in school history.
For the second-straight game, Kevin Durant had what was — for him — an average game. A great night for most mere mortals, Durant finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds after only scoring five in the first half. It was Durant’s eighth double-double in eleven conference games, and his 15th on the season.
But just as in the Iowa State game, the rest of the Longhorns stepped up. With the Oklahoma State defense stifling the superstar in the first twenty minutes, the offense was spread around. Damion James scored early on pick-and-rolls that resulted in wide open layups. D.J. Augustin hit threes when Durant set high screens for him. In the end, all five Texas starters reached double figures in scoring.
The biggest surprise of the night was seeing A.J. Abrams sticking JamesOn Curry in a man defense right out of the gate. Abrams has often struggled on defense, and Curry was responsible for 28 points in the first meeting between the two teams this year. But A.J. was a thorn in JamesOn’s side, staying in his face well behind the three-point line, fighting through screen after screen, and holding the guy scoreless for the first 18 minutes. Curry was called for a charge in the first half that was clearly a result of his frustration at being unable to shake the pesky little defender.
The focus on a single defensive task seemed to up Abrams’ confidence. He returned to his catch-and-shoot ways, knocking down three of his seven three-point attempts and another two-point jumper. He only took one bad shot on the run, as he cut across the lane and popped an 18-footer off the dribble. On this night, though, everything was falling for the Longhorns, and Abrams had another two points.
Just like the frustrated Curry, Mario Boggan also had a quieter night than the first time around. Boggan had gone off for 37 and 20 back in Stillwater, but scored only 16 and secured three rebounds in this one. Connor Atchley was a big part of the Longhorns’ defensive success underneath, as he maintained good position in the paint and stood straight up. James did the same, and time after time the post attack of the Cowpokes was limited to multiple, frantic pivots and ultimately a highly contested shot.
While Texas did not take care of the basketball very well, they did capitalize on turnovers and played the transition game that makes their offense click. The Longhorns actually turned it over 16 times to the Cowboys’ 15, but outscored them on those turnovers by a wide 22-11 count.
Texas also managed to outrebound OSU this time around. They took a 34-30 advantage on the glass, despite giving up fourteen offensive rebounds to the Pokes. But the Longhorns kept their opponents from capitalizing on those offensive boards, winning the second-chance battle 18-13.
All told, this was a glimpse at what a complete game would look like for the Horns. It really bodes well for the rest of the season that our entire team can produce offensively. And, for three of the last four halves of basketball, the Texas defense has played a hundred times better than they did the rest of the season. Sure, there were occassional lapses on the defensive end last night, but I’ll easily take 36 minutes of suffocating D over a 52% 3-point shooting night from KSU.
The best part of the night for me as a fan was having the ref call the cops on myself and two friends. In all of the years watching games from the student section, I have been responsible for and have heard some less-than-tasteful stuff screamed towards opponents and refs. But this was the first time I’d ever had a cop speak to me about it…and this time nobody had even cursed.
The scene was this: Augustin is called for a foul heading into a TV timeout. The basket is counted, even though those of us watching next to the play think the OSU player was fouled on the floor. Someone screams “Are you kidding me?” Another yells “That’s horrible.” As the teams head into the huddle, the white-haired ref turns around and stares at me. “I hope you didn’t breed,” I tell him. That’s it. Apparently we had pricked his delicate ego and the law had to be called.
The cop comes over and suggests we direct our attention to the players and not the refs. As we let him know that we are keeping it clean for those around us, the ref leans across the baseline, looks at us, and says, “Tell them they’ve messed with the wrong crew.” I’m going to choose to ignore the fact that he was talking through the cop while looking at us. But his crewmate Steve Welmer loves our fans and chat us up every time he’s in town. Even the third ref joked with our section later in the night. But this thin-skinned little man apparently had something to prove. Are you surprised that he’s the same one who gave Sutton a technical later in the night?
Crybaby refs aside, it was a great night from start to finish. In the early afternoon, Dexter Pittman and Durant came out of Cooley Pavillion to meet with those of us who had camped out for the ballgame. Later Damion James talked with us as we loaded up our cars with the camping gear. It’s really nice of the players to let the fans know that the support is appreciated, especially in a time when so many people are jaded and think of athletes as self-centered, money-hungry prima donnas. I think we’re lucky to have a good group of quality people that just so happen to be great basketball players.
We’ve got a long week off before the road game with Baylor on Saturday. If you still need a basketball fix, Tech takes on A&M tonight at 6 PM central on ESPN2. Throughout the long week, I’ll try to get around to some more pictures and some of the tales from the road.
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