Texas Basketball gives away victory vs. No. 1 Duke
Texas Basketball dominated the No. 1 team in the country for 30+ minutes on Saturday night.
Unfortunately, Texas Basketball was unable to get their first-ever victory over an AP No. 1 in program history.
Final Score: Duke 85, Longhorns 78 in overtime.
The Longhorns led by 12 points at halftime, led by 16 points mid-way through the second half, and looked on their way to certain victory in the second round of the PK80 tournament in Portland.
But, one sequence changed the complexion of the game and led to Duke making a run that showed why they were the No. 1 team in the country coming into the game.
Texas Doomed by Under 8:00 Play
Texas was up by 14 points coming out of the under 8:00 media timeout. Duke’s Wendell Carter, Jr. made the first of two free throws, missed the second, Duke gathered the offensive rebound, and Grayson Allen made a three-pointer. Suddenly, a 4-point possession knocked the lead down to 10 points for the Longhorns.
From there, Duke knocked the lead down to 8, then 6, then 4, then 2, then tied the game with 2:41 left in the game.
Texas withstood and regained the lead, which led to a back-and-forth final few minutes of regulation. Texas even had a chance to re-take the lead with 17 seconds remaining. However, sensational freshman PG Matt Coleman only made one out of two free throws. Duke then missed their shots on the last possession and the game went to overtime.
What Happened in Overtime for the Longhorns?
Unfortunately, the Longhorns ran out of big men in overtime. After stud freshman Mo Bamba fouled out of the game in regulation, fellow freshman big man Jericho Sims fouled out in overtime.
More from Texas Basketball
- Texas Basketball: 5-Star PF Asa Newell has ‘tremendous’ OV to Austin
- Texas basketball ‘knocks it out of the park’ with 5-Star SG Tre Johnson
- Texas Basketball: 5-Star SG Tre Johnson officially visiting this weekend
- Texas Basketball: 2 elite 2024 recruits ‘close’ to locking in official visits
- Texas Basketball: 5-Star PG Mikel Brown Jr. talks ‘a lot’ with Horns staff
Shaka Smart did not use sophomore big man James Banks in the game, opting for Dylan Osetkowski and four guards.
Duke exploited that matchup, giving the Blue Devils the advantage in overtime.
Texas was still within one point with one minute remaining in overtime, but they could not stop Mavin Bagley III. And, Matt Coleman continued a trend of making one out of two free throws. The result was Duke winning by 7, skewing the final score.
It was a frustrating way to lose the first game of the season.
Texas had been overlooked in the preseason polls and again in the early part of the season despite being a completely different team than the squad that suffered through a miserable 11-22 season last year.
This team showed for 32 minutes why they deserve more respect from college basketball.
How Did Texas Dominate Duke for So Long?
The Longhorns outplayed Duke for the majority of the game. Kerwin Roach dunked and dunked and dunked. Dylan Osetkowski posted up, Mo Bamba finished great defensive possessions with rebounds, Matt Coleman facilitated, and Andrew Jones swished.
This was a complete victory in the making. But, the Longhorns could not finish the task in the final stretch of the second half. As Shaka Smart would say, they did not respond to Duke’s final flurry.
Yet, the Longhorns gained respect in the process, helping ease the pain of how sickeningly close Texas was to winning.
This team is much different than last year. Texas Basketball just needs a signature win to help everyone on the team believe that this year will be a turnaround from last season.