Texas Basketball: Longhorns outlast Rice Owls in overtime thriller

In what was a long 24 hours for the Texas Basketball program, the team had to make sure they avoided what would’ve been a tough loss to Rice of CUSA.

In what was deemed as a blowout game for Texas Basketball, the Rice Owls came to Moody Center to prove those individuals wrong. The 6-3 Owls are one of the most underrated mid-major teams in the country. Conference USA is not considered the strongest of the bunch but Rice’s roster contains very underrated players who were destined to give UT some trouble.

Guard Travis Eevee went off for 19 points while shooting two clutch three-pointers in the second half that enabled the Owls to force overtime. Forward Max Fielder continued his playmaking ability with seven assists with a lot of them looking like they came from a point guard. It seemed like Rice was going to snap Texas’ undefeated at-home streak in great upset fashion. Fortunately for the Longhorns, they were able to overcome the deficit and pressure from the Owls and come out with the 87-81 overtime win.

1. Second chance opportunities

Particularly down the stretch in the second half, rebounding changed the game for the Longhorns. After entering the second half with a 29-33 deficit due to sloppy shooting and an Owls defense that would not give up.

Now insert bench player Brock Cunningham into the lineup and the dynamics changed. Texas was able to have many second-chance points opportunities heavily due in part to his five offensive rebounds. In total, the Longhorns ended with 10 second chance points.

Cunningham dove for every single ball and grabbed rebounds with ultimate force. Even if there were multiple Owls jerseys in his view, he crashed the boards and sought out the ball at all costs. This game would not have gone in Texas’ way had Cunningham’s 10 total rebounds not led the way for second-chance opportunities.

2. Marcus Carr show

The leader of the Longhorns took over the game when Texas needed it most. As per usual, Carr put on an absolute show on the court to help produce ridiculously clutch plays in the second half and overtime. In the highlight below, Carr is seen sliding through the Owls’ defense for a contested layup to extend the Longhorns’ lead to four in overtime. It was plays like that which helped solidify the contest.

https://twitter.com/TexasMBB/status/1602503103068119040?s=20&t=yjt2CID_ND0KPshhBWVKJA

But earlier in the game during the second half, Texas was extremely cold from beyond the arc and needed a jolt in their game to take away momentum from Rice. Carr hit an energy-jolting three-pointer at the 4:05 mark assisted by Cunningham that tied the game up at 66 and brought life to the Moody Center crowd.

Overall, Carr finished with 28 points on 56.2% shooting from the floor and 57.1% from three-point land.

3. Second-half offensive dominance

The defense throughout this game, with the exception of overtime where Texas only held Rice to nine points compared to 15, was not the greatest they’ve played. Allowing Rice to score 33 in the first half and 39 in the second half is not something that looks good on a top-25 team’s resume. Regardless, their offense showed up in the second half with helped lead them to the victory.

Texas scored 43 points in the second half thanks to the aforementioned Carr but also the unsung heroes of Sir’Jabari Rice and Dillon Mitchell.

Rice accounted for the playmaking heroics with three important shots, most notably on a Timmy Allen jumper at the 7:30 mark to give Texas a 59-56 lead. He also swatted away a huge block and an important layup with under two minutes left. He had 11 points and four assists in 34 minutes off the bench.

Mitchell played an extremely well and efficient game. He may have only scored two points in the second half, which came from free throws, but he was a catalyst in the rebounding game that saved Texas.

He recorded three defensive rebounds early on in the half but his two offensive rebounds with 24 and 22 seconds left helped give Texas another chance at life even if they got no points from it. Mitchell finished with nearly a double-double of 12 points, nine rebounds, and three steals. He also hit this acrobatic layup in overtime that helped further ice the game.