Texas basketball vs Oklahoma: Longhorns’ NCAA Tournament hopes almost gone after loss

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After a wrenching 76-72 home loss to rival Oklahoma in Saturday’s regular-season finale, Texas basketball at least knows its fate.

Win — a lot — at the SEC Tournament next week in Nashville, and you’ll have a chance to reach a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament. But a loss against either Vanderbilt in Wednesday’s tournament opener or Texas A&M in a second-round game Thursday, and the season will likely be over pending a surprising acceptance of an NIT Tournament invitation.

Texas guard Jordan Pope puts up a shot in the Longhorns’ 76-72 loss to Oklahoma in the regular-season finale Saturday at Moody Center. The Longhorns will enter next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville needing a few wins to strengthen their case as an NCAA Tournament team.

“You still have an opportunity,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “You’ve got to keep plugging away, you’ve got to keep your head up, and you’ve got to keep believing and keep working. Anything’s possible.”If Texas (17-14, 6-12 SEC) is to pull of almost the impossible and win a few games at the toughest conference tournament in the country, it must have freshman phenom Tre Johnson shake off a nightmare of a game. Johnson, the SEC’s leading scorer who entered the game averaging 20.6 points per contest, had his lowest-scoring performance of the season with seven points. He missed all 14 of his shots from the floor but did manage a season-high seven assists and seven rebounds, his second-highest total of the year.

But Texas needs Johnson to score, and 21 points from Jordan Pope wasn’t enough to overcome his lack of offense.

“They were trapping and sending a double (at me), but I missed a lot of shots,” Johnson. “I’ve just got to look in the mirror, take on the challenge and get ready for Wednesday.”

Tramon Mark added 12 points and eight rebounds for Texas, and Arthur Kaluma scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Chendall Weaver returned to the court after missing 15 games with a hip injury but played…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/texas-basketball-vs-oklahoma-longhorns-044848758.html

Author : Austin American-Statesman

Publish date : 2025-03-09 04:48:00

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