Posted December 21st, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Feature
A great Texas defensive effort wasn't enough
The Texas Longhorns lost their second game of the year Saturday afternoon 63 - 67 to Michigan State in Houston. The Horns led most of the game, but without a point guard capable of creating for himself and his teammates the team struggled to score down the final stretch. Once leading 60 - 58, the team scored only three points over the last five and a half minutes. Justin Mason had a couple of chances to win or tie the game in the final minute of the game but missed two three-point attempts.
Starting guards AJ Abrams and Mason combined to score only 12 points in the loss, and backups Dogus Balbay and Varez Ward went scoreless despite getting more minutes than normal when Mason went down for an extended period with an injury in the first half. Abrams in particular struggled to find his shot throughout the game, held to a season low eight points and without a three-point field goal for the first time this year.
One bright spot in the loss was the play of Gary Johnson in a return to his hometown of Houston. Johnson had a game-high 20 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor and 4-4 from the free throw line.
The last game for Texas of 2008 will be this Tuesday night on ESPN2 versus Wisconsin.
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