Texas Basketball: Greg Brown outshines Cade Cunningham in win

A huge 24 point and 14 rebound outing for freshman power forward Greg Brown pushed Texas basketball over Oklahoma State at home on Dec. 20.

A really nice outing for head coach Shaka Smart and No. 11 ranked Texas basketball, most of the way, came down to the wire in their Big 12 opener on the afternoon of Dec. 20. Texas had their de facto tip off to the Big 12 slate at home at the Frank Erwin Center on Dec. 20 against head coach Mike Boynton and the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Smart and the Longhorns were originally supposed to open up Big 12 play one week prior, on the road on Dec. 13 at the Ferrell Center against the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears. But that game was pushed back in the wake of novel coronavirus related issues on the Baylor side.

Texas’ last game resulted in a comfortable double-digit win at home back on Dec. 16 over the Sam Houston State Bearkats. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State had opened up their Big 12 slate on Dec. 16 at home at Gallagher-Iba Arena against the TCU Horned Frogs. That game resulted in a one-point loss for the Pokes earlier in the week.

Both Texas and Oklahoma State came into this game with six wins and one loss on the season so far. But Texas was the favorite ahead of tip off over the Pokes, by seven points.

Moreover, the Longhorns got off to a slow start, and played this game like a roller coaster ride most of the way. They wound up down at half by a score of 34-29. But then they picked up the pace in the second half, to the tune of a 48-40 edge. That helped the Longhorns get the narrow win at home over Oklahoma State by the final score of 77-74.

The driving forces for the win for Texas over Oklahoma State to open up their Big 12 slate were the talented freshman power forward Greg Brown and redshirt junior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones. It was really good timing that Brown had his true breakout game in this three-point win over the Pokes.

And Jones was a nice addition to the scoring efforts by Brown on the day. A really slow day from junior guard Courtney Ramey was offset by nice games from senior guard Matt Coleman and sophomore shooting guard Donovan Williams off the bench.

Moreover, Brown definitely was the MVP of this game for the Longhorns. He registered a team-high 24 points, to go along with a game-high and season-high 14 rebounds, no assists, no steals, and three blocks. Brown shot an efficient 7-of-14 from the field, 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Jones gave an efficient outing to the Longhorns with 22 points in 34 minutes on the floor. Jones also registered seven rebounds, four assists, no steals, and no blocks. He shot 8-of-17 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.

Coleman wasn’t the most efficient from the field for the Longhorns in this game. But he did make a big impact in other areas. He registered 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and no blocks. Coleman shot just 2-of-11 from the field, 2-of-6 from beyond the arc, but hit on nine of a whopping 10 attempts from the charity stripe.

What can’t be overlooked is the impact that the likes of Brown, Coleman, and Jones had as two-way players against this young but talented Pokes squad. Brown dominated the glass and Coleman did a nice job on Oklahoma State’s superstar freshman point guard Cade Cunningham in transition and on the perimeter.

Cunningham did have a game-high 25 points, to go along with three rebounds and three assists. But Coleman helped to force a whopping six turnovers out of Cunningham. And the former top overall recruit in the nation was held to just 1-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

With the win over Oklahoma State to open up Big 12 play, Texas now moves to a record of 7-1 (1-0 Big 12) on the season to date. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State now holds a two-game losing streak after falling short to Texas on Dec. 20, with a record of 6-2 (0-2 Big 12).

Next up for this rolling Longhorns team on the hardwood is a matchup Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 29 at home at the Erwin Center, with tip off set for 7 p.m. CT. Texas has a nine day hiatus before hitting the hardwood for their next game action. That matchup with Texas A&M-CC will be the final game of this calendar year for the Longhorns.