Texas Basketball Stuns UNC At Buzzer

Texas basketball stunned third ranked North Carolina Saturday evening in the Erwin Center, providing the first signature win of the Shaka Smart era.

As college basketball goes, mid-December games usually aren’t all that impactful or meaningful. Just don’t tell that to the Texas Longhorns, who celebrated their upset win of No. 3 North Carolina like it was the National Championship. For a team the figures to spend the season on the NCAA bubble, Saturday’s win will definitely have an impact later on.

The hero of the night was senior Jevan Felix, who became an instant Longhorn Legend when his mid-range jump shot barely beat the clock and then found the bottom of the net to send the sellout crowd at the Erwin Center into euphoria, providing the 84-82 final margain. Felix was a handful for North Carolina all day, finishing the day with 25 points, inlcuding 5-of-7 from three point range.

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The Longhorns (6-3) were underdogs against the Tar Heels, the preseason number one team, but that didn’t mean a thing on Saturday. In fact, Texas owns North Carolina in recent years, winning the last three meetings and seven of the last eight.

It was, however, the Longhorns first win over a Top 5 team in almost five years The last time the accomplished the feat was against Kansas in January 2011.

Things didn’t start so well for the Longhorns, who quickly fell behind 7-0. Texas shook off the slow startand begin whittling away the Tar Heel lead, eventually taking the lead thanks to a pair of three pointers from Felix and Eric Davis Jr. to go up 19-17. North Carolina answered and led 44-42 at the half.

The Tar Heels maintained that lead throughout most of the second half, but the pesky Longhorns just wouldn’t back down. The last six minutes of the game were classic college basketball as the teams traded the lead seven times and were tied nine other times.

Texas Longhorns /

Texas Longhorns

Isiah Taylor, who scored 13 points in the second half alone, put Texas ahead with just 27 seconds left. His jumper made it 82-80. North Carolina promptly answered, giving Texas one last possession to win it in regulation. Taylor looked to the be the hero, launching a three point shot with time running out. As he went up, the North Carolina defense collapsed on the rim, which turned out to be a break for Texas. The shot hit the rim and bounced perfectly to Felix, who was alone 19 feet out. Unguarded, Felix threw up a shot a fraction of second before time expired, cooling hitting the shot and causing the electric crowd to erupt. The officials reviewed the shot to make sure Felix got it off in time and when they determined that he did, the upset was official.

This was no fluke win for the Longhorns, though. Texas dominated North Carolina in rebounds, 36-27 and 21-7 in second chance points. They had a season low eight turnovers and matched their best three point shooting game of the year, hitting 12 of 24.

Senior Cameron Ridley continued his solid senior season by adding his third double-double of the year. Ridley had 12 points and 13 rebounds on the night.

Can the Longhorns turn this win into a program changing event, or was it just a matter of the team catching lightning in a bottle? That remains to be seen. However you can’t argue that Shaka Smart just earned a major victory just nine games into his time at Texas and one that will linger in Longhorn lore for years to come. After Saturday, there is reason to be excited about Texas basketball again and that may be the biggest win of all.

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