With Texas trailing late in a must-win home game against #2-ranked Oklahoma, the Longhorns looked to AJ Abrams for a final offensive burst. The senior delivered an unforgettable five-minute stretch of basketball, scoring 16 straight points to lead Texas to a 73-68 victory. Additional game balls to Dogus Balbay and Dexter Pittman, both instrumental in Texas' most important victory of the season. The Sooners, who played most of the game without star forward Blake Griffin (lost early to foul trouble, then the entire second half with a concussion), fell behind by double-digits early in the second half before roaring back to build a 5-point lead of their own. Prior to Abrams' heroics, Sooner freshman guard Willie Warren was the story of the night, scoring from seemingly every spot on the court, regularly intermingled with great set ups to teammates.
With the win, Texas moves to 7-5 in conference, keeping pace with Kansas State for the fourth spot in the Big 12. Perhaps more importantly, the win gives Texas the NCAA Tournament breathing room which had evaporated during the team's recent slide. At this point, Texas would have to suffer major upsets to miss the field. The bubble talk is over.
Plenty of time for recapping and analysis in the coming hours; for now, this is your postgame celebration thread.
Hook 'em