Jarrett Allen Gets Dunk of the Year … and Texas Loses Again

Texas Basketball dropped another road game in Big 12 play Monday night. The Longhorns still have not won a road game this season.

It was a strange night in Morgantown for Texas Basketball. Head coach Shaka Smart was called for a very rare technical foul, West Virginia’s head coach Bobby Huggins collapsed on the court late in the first half, and Texas’ Jarrett Allen had the Dunk of the Year in the Big 12.

Meanwhile, West Virginia won 77-62 after Texas was unable to put together enough offense in the second half.

Since this is pretty much a lost season, let’s focus on the dunk from Jarrett Allen dunk before dealing with the loss.

At Least Jarrett Allen Had The Dunk of the Year

Let’s set the stage for this dunk. Texas had just squandered a big lead by giving up one of their customary huge runs to the opponent. With three minutes left in the first half and Texas down by 13 points, Texas broke down WVU’s press.

Andrew Jones made eye contact with Allen, who caught the ball in space near the rim, pivoted as WVU’s defense was late coming over, and elevated for a monster jam over the equally-tall Sagaba Konate.

It was a sensational, rim-rattling dunk that stunned the West Virginia fans behind the basket and caused ESPN announcer Fran Fraschilla to beg for a dead ball to see a replay. The game kept going, though, and the half almost ended before they got to that replay.

The dunk captured Allen’s athleticism and why he is a projected First Round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Whether he comes out early after his freshman season remains to be seen, as he has a lot of room to grow as a big man. That’s both physically with his body and as a post player trying to work against bigger and stronger players.

Allen will have an interesting decision to make when this season is over.

Texas Basketball Follows Same Script

Texas looked good early on as they sought their first road win of the season. They even led 17-10 after eight minutes.

Then came the avalanche. WVU’s Lamont West made a three-pointer, was fouled by Eric Davis, made his free throw for a four-point play. Then, after Texas missed a shot, Jevon Carter made a three-pointer on the next play.

Suddenly, it was 17-17. And the floodgates opened. WVU went on a 15-0 run, book-ended by Lamont West’s hot shooting. West finished with 23 points on 6-8 three-point shooting off the bench.

Texas had trouble defending the three-point line the entire game, giving up 10-24 for WVU. Meanwhile, Texas only went 3-13 on threes.

Texas will finish the season as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in all of college basketball. If they had just one consistent outside shooter, they had a chance to get back in this game.

Texas Longhorns Missing Shooter

In the second half, it felt like WVU was toying with the Horns just trying to make it through the final 20 minutes. This was after Coach Huggins collapsed near the end of the first half. Huggins returned to coach the second half and the game stayed at a steady pace of WVU up by double figures.

Then, Texas suddenly started to score at the rim and WVU went through a cold spell. But, Texas’ bugaboo of missing the front-end of one-and-ones kept the game at 11 points in favor of WVU.

Texas had plenty of chances to get within single digits with about five minutes remaining, but they could not make three-pointers off steals and defensive rebounds.

West Virginia eventually started making shots and finished off a 15-point win. Texas is now 4-11 in the Big 12 and is in danger of dropping to a tie for last place with Oklahoma.

Next: Why UT Basketball Will Be National Title Contender In Two Years

Next up, the Horns host Kansas Saturday afternoon in Austin. It’s a chance to salvage an otherwise miserable rebuilding season with the same pattern of poor play repeating itself every night. But at least on this night, Jarrett Allen got the Dunk of the Year in the Big 12.