40 Acres Sports

The Texas basketball team has struggled for four straight games, particularly shooting the ball, but on the bright side they’ve won three of those contests. Saturday afternoon the team came from behind again in the second half and then finished off the [tag]Iowa State[/tag] Cyclones 71-65 in overtime (video highlights).

Neither team played well on the offensive end in the first half, but thanks to their big men controlling the paint the Cyclones held a four point lead going into the locker room. All-American point guard [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] putting the ball through the hoop all game long. On the few occasions in the first twenty minutes when a Texas big man had a scoring chance, they either fumbled the ball away ([tag]Clint Chapman[/tag]) or they missed makeable shots (everyone).

The Horns got off to a horrid start in the second half, it took the guys nearly five minutes to make two buckets. The slow start allowed Iowa State to build up a double digit lead that they held going into the final ten minutes. At that point they handed over point duties again to [tag]Justin Mason[/tag], allowing Augustin a chance to create off the ball both for himself and [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag]. Abrams’ shooting carried the team all game long, his seven threes were the only thing that kept the team in it. Texas was able to get some timely buckets from [tag]Gary Johnson[/tag], Abrams, and Augustin to eventually close the gap and send the game to overtime. They had a chance to win it in regulation but couldn’t get a decent shot off in the final seconds.

In overtime, Iowa State couldn’t buy a basket. Their only points from the floor came with 14 seconds left when the game was essentially over. Texas was able to get key buckets from Abrams and Augustin and hit their free throws to seal the win. The 12th ranked Longhorns are now 19-4 on the season and improve to 6-2 in Big 12 play.

Player of the Game: AJ Abrams, 25 points, 7/10 on 3-pointers

Next Game: 8pm Monday vs. #5 Kansas, Erwin Center, TV: ESPN

Yesterday the Longhorns overcame a 13-point deficit in their way to a 71-65 win over [tag]Iowa State[/tag] in Ames. Read the Bevo Sports’ recap or check below for ESPN highlights of the game:

Despite not being paid or actually playing, the NCAA is docking Dogus Balbay games next year for playing on a Turkish pro team.

Bobby Knight resigns from Texas Tech. Didn’t see that coming, I wonder how long Pat Knight will last.

Longhorns’ new phenom: Filling up Erwin Center. Great to see, Coach Barnes and this team deserve a full house.

Kevin Durant scores 26, knocks in game winner against Spurs. Sonics had lost 14 straight.

The book on LaMarcus Aldridge. Compares to Jack Sikma? Who the heck is that?

High school guard J’Covan Brown suspended for a month. There’s some real shady stuff going on down there, this might be for the best.

Sacrifice becoming a way of life for Damion James. I love the kid, glad we stole him from OU.

Rick Barnes vows to fix what’s ailing his Horns.D.J. Augustin needs to carry this team and he didn’t Saturday.