Longhorns Squeak Past Rice in Overtime Hours After Chris Beard Suspension

The No. 7 Texas Longhorns played a thrilling overtime game on a day where basketball became somewhat of an afterthought in Austin.

AUSTIN -- The No. 7 Texas Longhorns hosted an old in-state rival at the Moody Center Monday night, as the Rice Owls marched into Austin looking for a major upset.

However, the importance of the non-conference bout between two programs with tons of history against each other took a backseat to the news that rocked Austin and the college basketball world. Texas coach Chris Beard was arrested early Monday morning on felony domestic assault charges and was booked into a Travis County Jail.

Beard was released on bail Monday afternoon. The university officially suspended the 49-year-old indefinitely just a little over an hour before tip-off, leaving assistant coach Rodney Terry left to be the man in charge.

This left a noticeable emotional cloud over the Moody Center, one that remained in a first half that saw Texas fail to grab a lead. But as the Longhorns scrapped and clawed their way into overtime, they found themselves on the right side of a 87-81 win, though it was one that wasn't without its fair share of struggles.

The Longhorns were powered by a season-high 28 points from guard Marcus Carr to go along with double-digit scoring efforts from Dillon Mitchell (12 points, eight rebounds), Timmy Allen (15 points) and Sir'Jabari Rice (11 points).

The Owls were impressive behind an stellar scoring display from their backcourt, as Quincy Olivari powered Rice with 28 points on on 4 of 9 shooting from deep. Travis Evee added 19 points.

Texas fell behind 9-4 early, as the Owls showed aggression and fearlessness on both ends. A usually vibrant Moody Center didn't have its normal energy due to the circumstances.

Rice took advantage, and built a 20-11 lead midway through the first half behind back-to-back 3s from Alem Huseinovic and another deep hit from Olivari. The energy favored an Owls team that had nothing to lose.

A quick 6-0 run from Texas, which was highlighted by a face-up 3 from Carr, swung momentum Texas' way. Allen then nailed back-to-back jumpers from the elbow, but this hardly deterred the Owls.

Turnovers and missed free throws prevented Texas from snagging its first lead of the half, and Rice took advantage. Olivari hit his third 3 of the half and followed this up with an and-one layup to give the Owls a 33-23 lead.

The Longhorns responded with another 6-0 run behind four more points from Mitchell, who led Texas with 10 at the half. The Moody Center was starting to come alive in spurts, but it was the Owls who led 33-29 headed into halftime. Twenty-nine points marked the second-fewest the Horns have had in a half this season.

But though it took about 23 minutes of game time, the Longhorns finally snatched their first lead behind 3s from Dylan Disu and Carr, as Texas gained a 35-34 advantage.

The crowd got arguably the loudest it had been all night when Texas guard Arterio Morris skied for a put-back basket, but Evee continued to find space on the interior to keep the Owls in striking distance.

The back-and-forth jabs continued, as Rice guard Cameron Sheffield hit a corner 3 before Allen responded with a corner 3 of his own. Few likely saw the game being tied at 55-55 with under 10 minutes to play in the second half, but this obviously wasn't a normal game.

The Longhorns looked like they'd start to pull away after three consecutive jumpers from Allen, but Olivari's hot night continued, as he hit his fourth 3 of the game before Evee hit back-to-back triples to keep Texas at bay.

After the teams traded free throws, a game projected to be a blowout in Texas' favor was suddenly tied 72-72 with 20 seconds left. The score remained deadlocked after the Owls missed a potential game-winner to send things to overtime.

And in fitting same-name fashion, it was Rice who helped finish off the Owls in overtime, as he scored five of his 11 points in the extra session.

The Longhorns will now look toward an uncertain next couple of days before taking on the Stanford Cardinal in Dallas on Sunday.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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