Sooners Spoil Pope’s Senior Night as Texas Heads to SEC Tournament

AUSTIN, Texas — Senior guard Jordan Pope recorded a game-high 30 points, but the Texas Longhorns (18-13, 9-9 SEC) dropped a hard-fought 88-85 decision in overtime to the Oklahoma Sooners (17-14, 7-11 SEC) on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at the Moody Center. With the loss, the Longhorns earned the No. 10 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament and will face No. 15 seed Ole Miss in a First Round contest on Wednesday, March 11 at 6 p.m. Central (7 p.m. Eastern) on SEC Network.

Pope’s Stellar Performance Not Enough

Pope posted a season-high in scoring and tallied a season-best six rebounds while converting 7-of-18 from three-point range (tying his season high) and a season-best 7-of-7 from the free throw line in a season-high 41 minutes. Junior Dailyn Swain added 18 points, seven rebounds and a career-high-tying eight assists, also recording three steals in a career-high 41 minutes. Graduate student Tramon Mark registered 17 points, and sophomore Matas Vokietaitis contributed 14 points and six boards in 34 minutes.

Game Recap

Texas took an early 5-4 lead following free throws from Swain at the 17:08 mark, but Oklahoma responded with a 6-0 run to establish a 10-5 cushion after a Tae Davis layup with 15:44 remaining. A dunk by Vokietaitis brought the Longhorns within 15-11 at the 12:15 mark, but the Sooners extended their lead to 20-11 with a Xzayvier Brown three-point play at the 11:13 mark.

A Nigel Pack jumper gave Oklahoma a 24-15 advantage at the 9:30 mark before Texas embarked on a 10-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes, taking a 25-24 lead after a Vokietaitis three-point play with 6:54 left. Oklahoma regained the lead with a 5-0 run, going up 29-25 following a Brown three-pointer at the 5:27 mark. The Longhorns then answered with a 13-3 run over the next three minutes, building a 38-32 advantage after a Pope three-pointer with 2:33 remaining. A pair of Derrion Reid free throws at the 1:37 mark cut the lead to 40-36 at halftime.

The second half remained tightly contested for the first 10 minutes, with Swain’s free throws tying the score at 55-55 at the 10:00 mark. The Sooners then went on a 14-2 run over the next three minutes, building a 69-57 cushion after a Brown three-pointer with 6:58 left. Texas responded with a 12-2 spurt over the next four-plus minutes, trimming the deficit to 71-69 after a Mark jumper at the 2:06 mark.

Oklahoma increased its cushion to 75-69 following a Mohamed Wague dunk with 38 seconds left. The Longhorns then scored five straight points to cut the margin to 75-74 after three free throws by Mark with 15 seconds remaining. A pair of Davis free throws gave the Sooners a 77-74 advantage with 14 seconds left before Pope was fouled while shooting a three-pointer with 3.5 seconds remaining and made all three free throws to send the contest into overtime.

In the extra session, Pope knocked down a three-pointer to give Texas an 82-81 advantage with 1:18 remaining, but that would be the final lead of the contest for the Longhorns. The Sooners used a Wague tip-in with 1:04 left to grab an 83-82 cushion and added a Reid three-pointer with 11 seconds left to seal the victory.

Team Notes

• With the loss, the Longhorns earned the No. 10 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Nashville. Texas will face No. 15 seed Ole Miss in a First Round contest on Wednesday, March 11 (6 p.m. CT/SEC Network).
• Texas fell to 0-2 in overtime games this season.
• The Longhorns dropped to 3-4 all-time in overtime contests against Oklahoma, including a 2-3 mark in home overtime games against the Sooners.
• Texas fell to 53-17 all-time in games played in Moody Center, including a 12-5 mark this season.
• The Longhorns lost the rebound battle by a 40-35 margin.
• The contest featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes.
• Texas faced a 12-point deficit (69-57) with 6:58 remaining in regulation and trailed by six points (75-69) with 38 seconds left. Texas closed the second half on a 20-8 run over the last 6:58 to force overtime after Jordan Pope hit three free throws with 3.5 seconds left in regulation.
• Texas limited the Sooners to 34.6-percent (9-26) from the floor, including a 1-of-5 (.200) mark from three-point range, in the first half.