Texas Basketball: 2 studs, 1 dud from dominant win over OU

Texas basketball pulled off the big upset in a rivalry game on the road on Jan. 23 in a convincing double-digit win over the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. Texas got its second straight win over a ranked opponent after it beat the No. 9 Baylor Bears at home at the Moody Center in Austin 75-73 last weekend.

This is a very impressive turnaround in the last couple of games by head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns. Texas looked like its NCAA Tournament chances were on ice early in Big 12 play after dropping its first two games at home to unranked foes for the first time in program history.

Dylan Disu and Max Abmas combine for over 40 points to lead Texas basketball to a double-digit win over Oklahoma

Since its last loss in the Big 12, Texas has turned a corner. Many of the things that Texas was not executing on early in Big 12 play, it is starting to do well now. Most importantly, Texas has played a completely 40-minute game in each of the last two outings. Not only that, but the Longhorns closed out the game strong with a 43-27 edge in the second half in the win over Oklahoma.

Something else Texas also did well against the Sooners was rebounding the basketball. Losing the battle on the glass was a major factor for the Longhorns that contributed to the slow start to Big 12 play.

It has shown much better fundamentals and effort on the glass in the last couple of games, though.
Texas outrebounded Oklahoma by a margin of 16 and stayed competitive on the glass in the win over Baylor last weekend.

What is so critical about this win for the Longhorns is not only the momentum and resume builder, but also the confidence-booster of getting a convincing double-digit win over a top-15 ranked rival on the road.

Winning in the Big 12 is never easy, let alone when you're facing a rival that is undefeated in 11 contests at home. But Texas still got it done on this night.

Here are two studs and one dud from the Longhorns' dominant 75-60 win over Oklahoma on the road on Jan. 23.

Stud: Max Abmas, G

Senior guard Max Abmas had another stellar outing for the Longhorns as he's playing his best basketball of the season in the last few weeks. Abmas led the team in scoring, with 22 points on an efficient 8-of-14 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, in the win over Oklahoma.

Whether it was driving to the bucket and finishing through contact or pulling up seemingly from Oklahoma City, Abmas was on point for the Longhorns scoring the basketball. He sparked the offense, even when this game was close earlier in the second half, with some key buckets to keep the Texas attack charged.

Abmas almost gave the Longhorns another iron man-type effort in the win over the Sooners. He played a team-high 36 minutes. But that was actually fewer minutes than Abmas played against Baylor or UCF in Texas's prior two games.

Despite the heavy workload for Abmas in the last few games in the span of just one week, he was arguably Texas's most efficient players against Oklahoma. He was a team-high +21 in this win over Oklahoma.

Outside of his scoring efforts, Abmas made other valuable contributions to Texas's win. He registered four rebounds, three assists, and one steal as he was effective facilitating the offense and made an impact on the glass from the guard position.