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Five Thoughts on Texas’ 65-64 Win Over Oklahoma State in Austin

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8 years ago

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BOX SCORE

Texas beat Oklahoma State on Saturday in Austin by the exact score Oklahoma State beat Texas by in Stillwater earlier this year, 65-64. It was a heart-breaker for the Pokes as they led for the majority of the second half and got scooped by Kerwin Roach at the very end on a game-winning layup up and under Mitchell Solomon.

It dropped OSU to 6-10 in the Big 12 this year and propelled the Horns to a 7-9 record as they look to solidify their NCAA Tournament resume. Jeffrey Carroll had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists for Oklahoma State and Lindy Waters pitched in 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the field.

For the Horns, four players were in double figures, and they were led by Dylan Osetkowski who had 13 points. The most eye-popping number of the day was that UT turned the ball over just eight times (11 percent of their possessions). It’s just the fourth time this year OSU has failed to turn a Big 12 team over 10+ times.

Five thoughts on the game. Let’s go.

1. OSU’s Assertion to start Second

After a Carroll 3-pointer at the end of the first half stymied Texas’ efforts to build a gap between these two teams, OSU opened up the throttle to start the second. It was what we’ve seen so many teams do to OSU throughout the year so it was fun to see the Pokes turn it around on an opponent. I thought it was a harbinger of things to come. I thought wrong, apparently.

OSU turned a 33-25 deficit into a 45-35 lead on a Lindy Waters 3-pointer five minutes into the second half. Unfortunately, OSU would only hit six more field goals over the final 15 minutes, and Texas tracked them down in the end.

2. Smith still a force

Phillip Slavin noted this in our Slack chat during the game, and I thought it was smart. Smith was 1 for 9 for the game before hitting two clutch shots in the final 55 seconds. His ability to use his huge frame to get into the lane and move smaller (but faster) guards around is astounding, and it’s what you want late in games like this.

He did it beautifully twice to take the lead. Once on a floater with 50 seconds left and then again on a “there is literally nobody short of Malik Jefferson who resides in Austin that will keep me from getting this shorty off” shot with 22 seconds left. Clutch city.

3. Waters and Carroll Were Fantastic

Waters and Carroll combined for 33 points on just 22 shots, and I thought both were incredible in the second half. Waters specifically was fabulous as he went 3 for 4 from 3-point range and 4 for 6 overall. That means he’s 8 for his last 10 from deep. I’m going to ignore for the moment that Roach roasted him for the game-winning layup and instead drop this clip of Clip housing Osetkowski (because it was amazing.)

4. Bad loss or good effort?

Texas has a ludicrous amount of talent on its roster, but it was also missing a ton with Andrew Jones, Eric Davis and Mo Bamba out of the game down the stretch for a variety of reasons. I want to give the benefit of the doubt to an OSU team that has responded beautifully following that loss to TCU last Saturday. However … however … Texas had lost four of five and seemed dead in the water late in the game.

And OSU let ’em off the hook by going 10 full minutes at the end of the second half (from 12 minutes to 2 minutes) with just two field goals.

5. What a ludicrous ending

In the last 129 seconds there were 15 points scored on just seven shots (six of them makes). It was basically the opposite of how we’ve come to expect every college basketball game to end. Unfortunately for OSU, it put them in a position where they now have to sweep Iowa State in Ames and Kansas in Stillwater to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

Aside: If you turned the Longhorn Network off right after the game was over (or before), I don’t blame you, but you also missed one of the great calls in recent memory. “Texas is in the Tournament!” they yelped. Yeah … ok … no they’re not. But thanks for the giggles.

• Mitchell Solomon shaking down Mo Bamba down low and making a baby hook over him is amazing and not a thing I ever thought I’d see. Probably not something either of them thought they would see, either.

• The true shooting percentage for both teams was 50.2 percent.

• Shaka should be generally embarrassed that OSU and Texas have the same record with those respective rosters. This game was different because they were without so many guys, but man.

• They’re the worst.

• I love that little play OSU runs with Solomon at the free throw line where somebody hits him and he has a guard like Lindy Waters coming around the other side. He can either hand it off, take the jumper or kick it back out. It’s a fantastic play.

• Texas’ wins over OU were listed as quality wins. We sure about that?

• Haha

• Wut?

• Kendall Smith is really good at that over-the-head kick out pass on the fast break. Hit Lindy on one at the beginning of the second half.

• I’m not sure Lindy trying to creat his own offense is the best idea.

• Yankuba Sima is a homeless man’s Mo Bamba. Less than homeless?

• I was on Tiger watch today, which means I was watching Big Cat with one eye and Mo Bamba with the other. I think at one point I typed “I cannot believe the swing speed Bamba is employing right now!” Apologies.

• Apropos of nothing. Baseball starts this afternoon.

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