The No. 3 Texas Longhorns coasted to an easy 68-52 defeat of the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. The game was nowhere near as close as the final score indicates. Texas jumped to an early double digit lead, led by 16 points at halftime, and were never challenged in the second.
For those of you paying close attention, the Longhorns have now won each of their nine Big 12 games by double digits (31 at Tech, 20 vs OU, 21 vs A&M, 11 at Kansas, 15 at Ok State, 13 vs Missouri, 20 at A&M, 16 vs Tech, and 16 at OU). Wow!
The ‘Horns improve to 9-0 in the Big 12 and 21-3 on the season. Texas stays a game in front of the Kansas Jayhawks for first place in the conference and remains on track for a protected seed in the NCAA tournament and possibly a Tulsa-San Antonio track toward the Final Four in Houston.
Tonight's affair against the Sooners was a complete mismatch. Texas got whatever it wanted on offense and limited the offensively challenged Sooners for the entire game. All five Texas starters finished in double figures, Jordan Hamilton with a game-high 20 points, Gary Johnson with 14 (including 4-for-4 from the line), Dogus Balbay added 12 (including a mid-range jumper, one of his first as a Longhorn), and freshmen, Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, each contributed 11 points.
The defense end was just as balanced and impressive. OU was limited to sub 35% from the floor and was outrebounded 38-27.
If it wasn't for some sloppiness from Texas (13 team turnovers), this one would have been even more one-sided.
Other than the turnovers, the only other negative from tonight was the lack of any contributions from the bench. In fact, the starters accounted for all 68 Longhorn points. Jai Lucas and Alexis Wangmene only made cameo appearances, Matt Hill missed twice, literally trying to place the ball above the rim, and J'Covan Brown played a little fast and frustrated (0-for-5 from the floor) in his 16 minutes.
Against a stronger opponent, Texas will need more from the J'Covan and Matt especially. Against OU, it didn't matter. Hook ‘em.
Next Game: vs. Baylor - Saturday, February 12th 3 pm ESPN