No. 6 Longhorns Battle Past Oklahoma State as Defenses Dominate

The Texas Longhorns followed up a loss to Kansas State that featured offensive fireworks with a tough-nosed win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday that was highlighted by defense.

The Texas Longhorns found themselves in an NBA-like scoring track meet on Tuesday in a record-setting 116-103 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats at home.

The Big 12 basketball we're all used to finally showed its colors again in Stillwater on Saturday, as the Oklahoma State Cowboys hosted the No. 6 Longhorns. And after a low-scoring defensive slugfest between the two conference rivals, Texas (13-2, 2-1) saw itself come out on top over the Cowboys (9-6, 1-2) in a 56-46 win.

Both teams shot less than 32 percent from the floor and put up season-low scoring marks on offense.

The Longhorns were led by Marcus Carr (12 points), Timmy Allen (11 points, six rebounds) and got a major contribution from Brock Cunningham (eight points).

OSU got argubaly the performance of the day from Kalib Boone, who had a game-high 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six blocks.

The Cowboys were dominant in the defensive paint despite the absence of Moussa Cisse, their best interior defender, as they had 12 blocks.

The Longhorns battled through this tough defensive pressure in the first half and led for nearly all of the first 20 minutes. OSU went without a field goal for the final seven minutes of the game as Texas led 32-24 headed into halftime.

But despite holding the Cowboys to without a field goal for about an 11-minute stretch that spanned the end of the first half and into the second, the Longhorns' sluggish offense couldn't blow the doors off and failed to capitalize on their lead.

Both teams had their swings at major momentum shifts before the midway point of the second half, as Boone had a strong dunk in traffic before getting an emphatic block on the other on the way down.

But Carr then hit a corner 3 to give Texas a 40-33 lead. It was big shot that made a minimal lead feel huge.

Then, the offense started to click for OSU. Guard Caleb Asberry helped spark a 6-0 run and gave the Cowboys their first lead since the first half with a deep and contested 3 to make it a 44-43 game.

This was the last gasp Oklahoma State had, as the Cowboys would score only two more points in the final eight minutes.

Cunningham essentially iced the game with a huge 3-pointer right at the two-minute mark to give the Longhorns a 53-46 lead. For the Cowboys, it didn't help that they had gone another seven-minute stretch with a field goal after taking the lead on Asberry's big triple.

The Longhorns will head back to Austin to take on the TCU Horned Frogs on Wednesday.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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