Travelling across the Red River, Texas men’s basketball defeated Oklahoma 77-73 to earn its first-ever SEC victory.
Before it began, it had appeared that the program’s ninth straight victory over the Sooners was ended. Texas led by 16 points at the half and increased that lead to 23 points at the beginning of the second half.
Perhaps bored by seeing their team’s fiercest opponents dominate on their court, Sooners fans in the stadium completed stringing balloons together to create a serpent that encircled the entire venue. However, the crowd erupted as the two ends were linked together.
Texas appeared to be choked by the balloon snake the fans made, which made their performance worse as the balloons got closer.
to the court. Over five minutes, Oklahoma turned the tide, going on a 17–1 run.
In contrast to the first half, when Oklahoma had ten turnovers and Texas had excellent ball movement, Texas had four turnovers in six minutes.
The game suddenly became one-possession.
Jordan Pope, a junior guard for Texas, was determined to keep his team ahead of Oklahoma.
Pope placed the team on his back by scoring 13 points in a row to keep the Sooners from catching up. Pope scored 19 of the 34 points that Texas scored in the second half. With 27 points at the end of the game, he made all six of his free throws and led in scoring.
Pope then appeared to slow down,
Then, when Pope appeared to slow down, Tre Johnson, a rookie guard, came back to life and made a two-point shot.
Johnson scored ten points in the first half by coming up with inventive ways to put the ball in the basket. Johnson, who was double-teamed by Oklahoma, tossed the ball to Pope over the hands of the two players in one play. Tramon Mark, the graduate guard, made a three-pointer appear effortless after Pope swung it around to him.
However, the five-star recruit scored just six points and was largely quiet in the second half.
With one minute left, the game was still within two possessions. In an effort to reduce their errors, Oklahoma has improved their shooting.
Before the game, Texas head coach Rodney Terry remarked, “I think it’s probably (Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser’s) best team because they have a really good shooting team.” They are a formidable shooting squad, (a) one that won’t lose, a highly skilled free-throw shooting team, and a well-coached team, as seen by their ten three-pointers in eight games this season.
In the rivalry game, Oklahoma wasn’t at its best at taking threes, only making five out of 16 attempts. However, four out of those five were made in the second half.
Texas was the last to score. With the seconds ticking down, senior forward Arthur Kaluma threw the ball across the court like a baseball to Mark, who put it in the net.
The Longhorns can now say they won an SEC game. The Sooners, however, not yet.
Texas continues on the road, hoping to add another SEC win to their belt as they play against No. 5/4 Florida on Jan. 18.
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