Shaka-Less Horns Fall To Sooners In Upset 80-79

Without Shaka Smart on the sidelines, the shorthanded Texas Longhorns fell to the Oklahoma Sooners 80-79 at the Frank Irwin Center on Tuesday night.

The No. 5 Texas Longhorns fell to the No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners 80-79 at the Frank Irwin Center on Tuesday night, sending the Longhorns to their second-straight conference loss. 

Without head coach Shaka Smart on the sidelines, and just eight scholarship players available, the shorthanded Longhorns struggled to find their consistency out of the gate, trailing for the final 31 minutes and 17 seconds of action. 

That shorthanded roster was hampered even more when foul trouble began to set in for the Horns, as Royce Hamm, Matt Coleman III, and freshman sensation Greg Brown all fouled out of the game down the stretch, while Kamaka Hepa and Donovan Williams each played the final minutes with four fouls of their own.  

As a result, the Longhorns were forced to play the final three minutes and 50 seconds with just six players available, until Coleman's final foul with 18 seconds left to play. 

Despite that, the Longhorns had every chance to steal a win at the end, only to fumble away those chances critical mistakes and poor shot selection on their final possession. 

READ MORE: Longhorns Basketball Coach Shaka Smart Tests Positive For COVID-19

The Longhorns were led by sophomore big man Kai Jones, who finished the game with a 15-point 10-rebound double-double. Jones also had three assists, two steals, and two blocks, and hit five of his 11 shots from the field. 

Texas also had four other players finish in double figures, including 14 points from Brown, 13 points from senior Coleman, and 11 points each from Andrew Jones and Williams. 

As a team, the Longhorns were 43.9-percent from the field, 24-percent from beyond the arc, and were 15-19 from the line. Meanwhile, Oklahoma had nearly identical shooting numbers, hitting 42.6-percent from the floor, 25.9-percent from three, and was 21-34 from the charity stripe. 

READ MORE: Texas Trip To Iowa State Rescheduled For Mid-February

Next up for the Longhorns (11-3) will be a trip to SEC country, as they head to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats (5-9) at Rupp Arena on January 30. Kentucky, who is having an uncharacteristically down year under John Calipari, is 2-0 against the Longhorns all-time, with the last matchup between the two teams coming in 2015. 

Following that trip, the Longhorns will hit the road again to take on the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears on February 2, in what will be the first matchup of the season between the two teams, after their December 13 matchup was postponed due to COVID protocols.