Men's Hoops: Texas might be back on the bubble after an 88-85 overtime loss to Oklahoma

[Jeff Howe]

AUSTIN, Texas — Jordan Pope's game-high 30 points and Dailyn Swain knocking on the door of a triple-double (18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals) weren't enough to help Texas avoid a gut-wrenching 88-85 overtime loss to Oklahoma on Saturday.

Pope and Tramon Mark went a combined 8-for-8 at the foul line over the last 27.9 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, Texas (18-13, 9-9 SEC) shot 3-for-8 from the field in overtime, and the Sooners hit enough big shots down the stretch to get a win inside Moody Center on senior night.

The Longhorns won nine of the 10 previous meetings against Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11). Aside from dropping a game to the Sooners that could've been its 10th SEC win, Texas heads into the conference tournament likely back on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Here's how the Longhorns ended the regular season with a disappointing loss:

 

FIRST HALF

 

Oklahoma 8, Texas 5 (15:55)

— A 1-for-4 start to the game by the Longhorns and the Sooners, knocking down three of their first six shots, had the visitors on top at the under-16 media timeout.

Oklahoma doubled Matas Vokietaitis every time he touched the ball, except for the last time, when Kirill Elatontsev fouled Vokietaitis hard from behind. On one of those double teams, Vokietaitis kicked the ball to Jordan Pope for a 3-pointer in front of the Sooner bench.

Sean Miller put Chendall Weaver in the starting lineup on senior night. When play resumed coming out of the timeout, however, Cam Heide entered the game, putting the usual starting five on the floor for the Longhorns.

 

Oklahoma 17, Texas 11 (11:40)

— By the 15:06 mark of the half, the Longhorns had almost as many turnovers (three) as attempted field goals (five). The Sooners enjoyed a 6-0 run until Vokietaitis snapped it with a trip to the foul line, knocking down two free throws with 13:57 to go in the half to make it a three-point game, 10-7.

Amid a 2-for-8 start from the field, Texas went 5:18 between field goals, when Vokietaitis spun toward the baseline for a dunk to end the drought.

Both clubs headed to the bench for the under-12 media timeout with six team fouls. Free-throw shooting played a big role in the game early on, with Oklahoma (7-for-9) and the Longhorns (6-for-6) converting at the foul line at a high clip.

 

Oklahoma 24, Texas 20 (7:51)

— Pope and Vokietaitis combined for the Longhorns’ four field goals entering the under-8 media timeout. It wasn’t until coming out of the stoppage that a steal and layup by Swain, when a Texas player other than Pope or Voketaitis made a bucket.

There were 15 combined fouls between the two teams by the 10:05 mark, putting Texas and the Sooners in the bonus. A tightly officiated, physical game made it hard for either team to get into a flow offensively, with high-percentage shots few and far between.

 

Texas 30, Oklahoma 30 (4:19)

— A 10-0 highlighted by two Vokietaitis three-point plays was the offensive surge the Longhorns needed to get back into the game.

Porter Moser called a timeout to talk things over with his club after a 3-pointer by Swain tied the game. By that point, Texas had recovered from a horrific start to the game offensively, making four of eight shots entering the stoppage.

Swain’s 3-pointer ignited a 7-0 run by the Longhorns, highlighted by Swain’s alley-oop to Weaver, who threw down a thunderous one-handed jam, which sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Pope’s fourth 3-pointer of the half at the 2:33 mark put Texas up by six, the largest lead of the half for the Longhorns.

The Sooners ended the half in a 2-for-10 shooting slump, going the last 5:27 of the half without a field goal en route to a 34.6-percent performance from the field (9-for-26, including 1-for-6 from beyond the arc). After a 3-for-12 start to the game, the Longhorns hit seven of their last 15 shots and headed into halftime after a 37-percent (10-for-27, including 5-for-14 on 3-pointers) effort from the floor.

With 25 combined fouls, Texas (15-for-16 from the foul line) and Oklahoma (17-for-20 on free throws) did enough damage at the charity stripe to salvage an otherwise clunky first half offensively for both sides.

 

HALFTIME: Texas 40, Oklahoma 36

— Pope (16 points on 4-for-13 shooting, including 4-for-9 from 3-point range) led three Longhorns in double figures at the half. Swain (10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals) and Vokietaitis (10 points) also reached double figures in the first half.

 

SECOND HALF

 

Oklahoma 45, Texas 43 (17:35)

— A 6-0 run by the Sooners forced Miller to use a timeout less than three minutes into the second half. Oklahoma’s 4-for-4 start from the field erased its four-point halftime deficit, accounting for yet another forgettable first four minutes of the second half for the Longhorns.

More often than not, Miller has been critical of what his club has done coming out of the locker room.

With that said, Texas executed a well-designed play coming out of the timeout, with Pope finding Swain cutting to the basket for a bucket, giving the Longhorns 12 points in the paint. Swain’s third field goal of the game tied the game at 45.

 

Oklahoma 47, Texas 45 (15:49)

— A turnover by Pope led to a bucket by Tae Davis, putting the Sooners back on top entering the under-16 media timeout. Davis’ basket accounted for two of Oklahoma’s nine points off seven turnovers by the Longhorns.

The Sooners owned a 22-20 edge on the glass, including five offensive rebounds that led to six second-chance points.

Just like the previous second-half stoppage, however, a drive to the hoop by Swain for two tied the game. Swain’s 14 points came on a 4-for-5 effort from the field (1-for-2 on 3-pointers and 5-for-6 on free throws).

 

Oklahoma 48, Texas 47 (14:52)

— Vokietaitis checked out of the game after picking up his third foul. He and Heide were on the bench with three fouls.

 

Texas 51, Oklahoma 51 (11:39)

— Heide redeemed himself for a missed 3-pointer, taking a pass from Swain on the left side of the floor and driving in for a scoop shot to tie the game at 51. Elatontsev’s fourth foul (this one for grabbing Vokietaitis to try and deny him an entry pass) triggered the under-12 media timeout, which the Sooners entered while in the midst of a 2:15 scoring drought.

 

Oklahoma 63, Texas 57 (7:53)

— The Sooners outscored the Longhorns 9-2 after Swain converted two free throws to tie the game at 55, taking a six-point lead into the under-8 media timeout. Oklahoma made its last three shots and four of its last five attempts ahead of the stoppage.

A 3-pointer by Nijel Pack at the 8:26 mark gave the veteran guard 11 points in the second half.

 

Oklahoma 69, Texas 57 (6:50)

— Three turnovers in a span of 1:58 by the Longhorns aided a 14-2 run by the Sooners. Two Texas turnovers led directly to Oklahoma 3-pointers, one by Pack and one by Xzayvier Brown in front his bench, to give the Sooners a 12-point lead, their largest of the game.

 

Oklahoma 69, Texas 62 (4:59)

— A bucket by Vokietaitis ended a 9-0 run by the Sooners and Mark’s first 3-pointer of the game cut the Longhorns’ deficit to five. After Dayton Forsythe missed a jumper, Swain’s lob to Codie for an alley-oop at the other end of the floor made it a 7-0 run by Texas.

The run ended with Brown’s drive to the bucket for two, but Pope’s 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down when play resumed made it a four-point game with 3:23 remaining in regulation.

 

Oklahoma 71, Texas 69 (1:56)

— After Pack missed the front end of a one-and-one trip to the foul line, Mark’s pull-up jumper from the foul line cut the Sooners’ lead to two. Moser called a timeout to set something up for a critical possession with the Longhorns threatening to take the lead.

 

Oklahoma 75, Texas 69 (27.9 seconds)

— A baseline drive by Davis coming out of the timeout made it a four-point game. After Pope missed a desperation 3-pointer from the corner, Mohamed Wague’s two-handed finish on an alley-oop extended the Sooners’ lead to six points with 38.3 seconds left in regulation.

Mark headed to the foul line to try and give the Longhorns a chance in the closing seconds.

 

Oklahoma 75, Texas 74 (15.6 seconds)

— Five free throws by Mark and a turnover by the Sooners helped get the Longhorns within a point of tying the game.

 

Oklahoma 77, Texas 74 (3.6 seconds)

— Davis made two foul shots with 14.3 seconds to go, but Pope was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the other end. A video review upheld the 3-point attempt, sending Pope to the line for three shots to try and tie the game.

 

END OF REGULATION: Texas 77, Oklahoma 77

— Even with Moser calling a timeout between Pope’s second and third attempts, the senior guard made his foul shots to tie the game. Brown’s heave from just beyond the half-court stripe missed everything, which sent the game to overtime.

The Longhorns headed to overtime with Mark, Vokietaitis and Heide in foul trouble with four each.

 

OVERTIME

 

Texas 82, Oklahoma 81 (1:16)

— Mark missed two free throws that would’ve tied the game at 81. Thankfully, Davis threw the ball out of bounds trying to kick it out to Pack at the other end, giving the Longhorns a chance to tie or take the lead.

Swain rebounded a missed 3-pointer and found Pope open on the wing for the go-ahead triple.

 

Oklahoma 86, Texas 82 (1:04)

— Wague’s tip-in of a missed 3-pointer by Pack gave the Sooners a lead they didn’t relinquish.

Derrion Reid’s 3-pointer in the last 12 seconds of overtime was the dagger. Two free throws by Pack made it a 7-0 run by Oklahoma after Pope’s 3-pointer, handing the Longhorns a gut-wrenching loss heading into the SEC Tournament.

 

FINAL (OT): Oklahoma 88, Texas 85

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[Jeff Howe]

"It's tough to lose like that," Jordan Pope said.

[Jeff Howe]

"Like any human, our locker room would be down right now," Pope said. "It's definitely tough tonight."

[Jeff Howe]

Tramon Mark: "Tough loss. We fought hard. We obviously didn't play our best basketball."

[Jeff Howe]

Pope said he didn't feel any pressure at the foul line with 3.6 seconds left in regulation.

[Jeff Howe]

Mark didn't participate in senior night tonight because he did it last year and didn't want to take away from his teammates by going through it again tonight.

[Jeff Howe]

Mark and Pope both talking a lot about how the focus must shift to the team's first game in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday (I believe it'll be against Ole Miss).

[Jeff Howe]

Pope believes Texas has done enough to get into the NCAA Tournament, "but it's out of our control. It's not up to us."

[Jeff Howe]

Mark: "Just focus on Wednesday. That's all I'm focused on. That's going to be my message to the team."

[Jeff Howe]

"The box score will never show the impact Chendall Weaver has on a game," Pope said, adding that Weaver is the kind of teammate who'd take a bullet for someone.

"I'm glad he's by my side," he said.

[Jeff Howe]

Even with the last two losses, Mark said Texas is in a good spot. He just wants to get to Wednesday.

[Jeff Howe]

Pope said "staying confident" is something key after ending the regular season with two losses.

[Jeff Howe]

Mark on what Texas needs to do to get back on track: "Just playing desperate."

[Jeff Howe]

"We're one of the nation's best offenses," Pope said. "But if we don't lock in on defense, we're not going to go very far."

[Jeff Howe]

Before he left the postgame press conference, Pope wanted to thank the Texas fans for the two years in Austin that changed his life.

[Jeff Howe]

Sean Miller: "We really had everything that we wanted here in our final home game... Obviously, we didn't take advantage of that."

[Jeff Howe]

Oklahoma has gotten better and is playing its best basketball of the year.

Miller said the Longhorns simply couldn't raise their effort to guard the Sooners for 40 minutes.

[Jeff Howe]

"Like we've done 20 times," Miller said, Texas didn't play well to start the second half.

[Califashorn75]

Reason #342 why I don't watch men's basketball. 

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said OU forced Texas to pass a lot and the Longhorns "didn't generate good, clean shots throughout the game."

[Jeff Howe]

Pope making the three free throws at the end of regulation wasn't easy, Miller said.

"He was terrific in his last game here at Texas at home," Miller said. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have gotten to the finish line."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said Texas struggled getting key rebounds. He said Oklahoma got a lot of the loose balls that add up at the end of a game.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "I think we're kind of through the whole momentum thing. You just have to play good basketball."

[Fan of the Game]

May only drop to last four in. Do a couple of wins at the conference tournament sway the selection committee?

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said once overtime began, Texas missed a wide-open layup, missed two free-throws and wasn't as hard to score against as they were at other times in the game.