Texas Basketball Stuns Iowa State

The up-and-down season for Texas basketball continued Tuesday night.  Three days after a horribly ugly loss to TCU, the Longhorns played what might be their best game of the season in defeating No. 17 Iowa State 94-91 in an overtime thriller.

The Longhorns were led by emerging star Isaiah Taylor, who netted a game high 28 points and added six rebounds and six assists on the night.  Taylor was a force down the stretch, when he and Iowa State’s Georges Niang turned the game into a one-on-battle.

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Taylor nailed a three to put Texas up 82-79 with three and a half minutes left in the game.  Immediately after, Connor Lammert nailed another three to push the lead to 85-79, but the lead was anything but safe.

Niang made two free throws to cut it to 85-81.  After two Taylor misses sandwiched around a Monte Morris layup brought the Cyclones to within two, Niang tied it with a hook shot.

Taylor fired right back with a twisting, turning shot that put Texas up 87-85 only to see Niang answer at the other end. Taylor had a chance to end it in regulation when he attempted to drive and shoot but the shot was wild.  It appeared Taylor had been fouled on the play but there was no whistle and the teams went to overtime.

Javan Felix scored the first points of OT on a layup, then rebounded his own missed three and fed Taylor for another as Texas opened up a 91-87 lead. After a series of missed shots on both ends, Morris hit another basket to bring Iowa State within two.

Taylor, though, wouldn’t be denied.  His answering basket put Texas up 93-89. Prince Ibeh then sealed the game. With Texas clinging to a 94-91 lead, Ibeh got a piece of Matt Thomas’ three point attempt with four seconds left.  Iowa State got one more chance after the inbounds play but Niang, who went ice cold in OT, whiffed on a desperation three to seal the game.

The win was a huge one for the Longhorns (10-6, 2-2) who let one get away on Saturday night in Fort Worth.  That loss could have been cause for the Longhorns to hang their heads with a difficult stretch of games to come.  Instead, the Longhorns fired back against a tough Iowa State team (12-4, 1-3)

Taylor as the star, but he was far from a one man show on this night as Texas got unexpected scoring from Eric Davis and Tevin Mack, who each scored 14 points.  Connor Lammert added 11, including a huge three late in the second half while Javan Felix put up 13.

Texas Longhorns

As a team, Texas shot the lights out, including hitting on 13 three pointers during the game. That success shows just how dangerous this Texas team can be when the shots fall.

Unfortunately, they don’t always fall for Texas they way they did Tuesday night against the Cyclones. Still, the win is a heartening one and will be another point in their favor should the Longhorns find themselves in the running for a tournament berth come March.

Next up for the Longhorns is a Saturday evening visit from Oklahoma State (9-6, 1-2).  The Cowboys are currently on a two game losing streak and are winless in true road games on the year.

Next week, we will find out just how far the Longhorns have come when they visit West Virginia and Kansas.