Longhorns Squeak Past Oklahoma in OT Thriller

The Texas Longhorns hosted the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday looking to avoid a second straight loss against a Big 12 "bottom-feeder" ... if there is such a thing.

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns hosted the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday looking to avoid a second straight loss against a Big 12 "bottom-feeder" ... if there is such a thing in arguably the best conference in college basketball. 

After a loss to the previously last-place Texas Tech Red Raiders on Monday, the Longhorns needed a win against OU to recapture temporary claim over the top spot in the Big 12 and avoid their first losing streak of the season. The Sooners had slipped alone into last in the conference after Tech beat West Virginia earlier in the day.

Still, the Red River Rivals provided fans with another Big 12 slugfest on Saturday, though it was the No. 6 Longhorns who prevailed over Oklahoma 85-83 in overtime.

OU guard Grant Sherfield hit a toughly-contested triple to tie the game at 73-73 with 6.7 seconds left in regulation, which ended an eight-minute Sooners stretch without a field goal. But his heroics proved mute, as Texas pulled away in the extra session despite another game-tying attempt at the buzzer. 

In a tight game that saw neither team lead by double digits at any points, Texas survived the constant back-and-forth before behind the hot shooting of Sir'Jabari Rice in the final minutes of regulation and overtime.

"I just said this to everybody, I think Rice is one of the most unheralded players in this league," Sooners coach Porter Moser said. "He's so good. I love how efficient he was. I love to see his efficiency."

Rice paced the Longhorns (21-6, 10-4) by tying his season-high of 24 points on 4 of 6 shooting from deep. Timmy Allen (15 points, nine rebounds), Marcus Carr (17 points, six rebounds), Dylan Disu (12 points) and Brock Cunningham (10 points, four assists) all reached the double-digit scoring mark.

The Sooners (13-14, 3-11) were led by Sherfield's 18 while Milos Uzan (15 points) and Joe Bamisile (13 points) helped lead what was a productive Oklahoma backcourt.

Neither team could gain a significant edge over the other in the first half. OU had led by as many as six before Cunningham had a fast eight-point burst behind a pair of triples to give Texas its first lead at 13-12.

Bamisilie provided a spark off the bench with five quick points of his own to put the Sooners back in front at 28-27.

But after some more battling, the two teams remained locked, as they headed into the half tied at 34-34.

Sherfield, who has proven to be one of the Big 12's top scorers this season, was a bit quiet in the first half but came alive in the final frame when OU needed it most. He hit two triples in a 31-second span to put the Sooners back in front at 46-44 with 15 minutes left. This started what turned into a 3-point barrage from Oklahoma, as Jalen Hill and Bamisile both hits 3s on back-to-back possessions.

Suddenly, OU had a 57-50 lead with 10 minutes remaining after Sherfield had hit another from downtown.

But then Rice took his opportunity to take the game back for Texas.

Back-to-back triples from Rice had brought the Horns back after being in a multi-possession hole for a handful of minutes, as they took a 70-67 lead. He wasn't done, nailing a fadeaway baseline jumper at the shot-clock buzzer to extend Texas' edge. 

The Sooners had gone around eight minutes without a field goal as the Longhorns led 73-70 with under a minutes left, seeming ready to celebrate a tough-nosed win.  But after staying in the game due to team-wide success at the foul line in the closing minutes, Sherfield gave the Sooners another chance at an upset after his big-time triple to tie the game.

OU had used up all its magic though, as it was all Texas in overtime ... until it wasn't.

Once again, the Longhorns made things unfortunately interesting for the home fans, as Tyrese Hunter missed a key free throw that would've given the Longhorns a three-point lead after a 6-0 OU run.

But Godwin missed an awkward final attempt under the basket that would've sent the game to double OT. Instead, the Longhorns pulled out a heart-thumper.

---

You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

Want to see the Horns in action? Get your Texas Longhorns game tickets from SI Tickets here!

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Longhorns? Click Here to Subscribe to the Longhorns Country Newsletter

Want even more Texas Longhorns? Check out the SI.com team page here

Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure to subscribe to the Longhorns Country Podcast today! Click here To Listen.