Social Media Explodes After Andrew Jones Game Winner

Andrew Jones set Twitter on fire with his miraculous three-pointer to help the Texas Longhorns beat the Oklahoma Sooners Monday night in Austin.

Jones heaved a rainbow three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left that gave Texas a one-point victory, setting off the Erwin Center and social media.

The game was broadcast on ESPN as part of “Big Monday,” which usually means wild finishes and epic basketball. Jones’ shot certainly qualified. It also ranked #3 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays on Monday.

Young Longhorns Needed That Shot

It was the type of epic shot that this year’s Longhorns team needed. Head coach Shaka Smart said this young group of freshmen and sophomores have to see positive results after struggling through Big 12 play.

“It was really important, because I think our guys obviously have been working hard in practice and battling hard to be in a lot of the games we have played and be highly competitive,” Smart said after the game. “But at the end of the day, guys want to win, coaches want to win, everybody wants to win. That was an unlikely finish for sure, but I like the way our guys just hung in there and kept fighting.”

The hard work paid off for Jones, who said he had worked on that shot in practice.

“When it left my hand it felt real good. I had a momentum dribble that I’ve been working on and once I hit that shot after I’d pulled up, it felt good,” Jones said. “Now with this win, which we really needed, I feel like it’s going to give us a lot of momentum and we’re going to carry on.”

What Andrew Jones Shot Means Going Forward

At this point in the season, the only real chance the Longhorns have of making postseason play is winning the Big 12 tournament, which they have never done. So, Jones’ shot basically salvaged what would have been a crushing loss after the Horns blew the lead.

But, you never know if that buzzworthy shot will become a driving force for the rest of the season. Senior big man Shaq Cleare, who played outstanding against Oklahoma, also talked about how important Jones’ game-winner was for the team.

“We needed this game in the worst way possible. These guys, they work so hard in practice every day and it was just time to reward ourselves,” Cleare said. “I thought going into the ending part, ‘We really need a miracle right now.’ I said, ‘Something amazing is about to happen,’ and Andrew came out and put up a big shot and we needed it.”

Something amazing did happen. Jones became a social media star with one big shot to help Texas move forward after constantly experiencing setbacks in Big 12 play.

“We’ve been in that situation before when it’s been a tight game, where it’s a tied game, or we’re down two,” said Eric Davis, who set up Jones’ heroics with a three-pointer of his own.

“We’ve been unfortunate where we just wouldn’t be able to finish it. Just from previous games, you could tell that the vibe was down and we were like, ‘Just don’t give up.’ That was my whole message, ‘Just don’t give up, we could still go on and win this game.’ A lot of the time, they’d get a quick shot off or we’d get a shot, that was just my message. We did a good job of executing, we didn’t give up.”

More from Texas Basketball

What has been so frustrating for Longhorns fans is the Texas Basketball team has a lot of fight. But, they’re just too young to finish games.

It looked like the Horns were going to tease fans again with their potential. But, Andrew Jones won the day and gave Texas momentum for the rest of the season. Now, what will this young group of Horns do with it?

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