Texas aims for a third straight win over a Top 25 opponent Saturday when the Longhorns visit No. 21 BYU.
Back-to-back victories over then-No. 9 Baylor and No. 11 Oklahoma helped Texas erase the sting of dropping three of its first four Big 12 contests. The Longhorns scored 75 points and shot at least 50 percent from the floor in each of the two wins.
Texas (14-5, 3-3 Big 12) looked especially impressive in dismantling the Sooners 75-60 in Norman, Okla., on Tuesday for its sixth straight victory over Oklahoma. The Longhorns outrebounded the Sooners 40-24 and held them to eight points over the game’s final 12 minutes.
Max Abmas and Dylan Disu turned in dominant performances for the Longhorns. Abmas scored 22 points — his sixth game of scoring at least 20 points this season. Disu chipped in 19 points and a season-high 10 rebounds.
Abmas accounted for four of Texas’ eight 3-pointers against Oklahoma.
“Max did a great job being a great floor leader for us in terms of just executing the things that we were trying to get done offensively,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said.
BYU (14-5, 2-4) is looking to get back on track after back-to-back close losses to Texas Tech and Houston. Both games represented missed opportunities for a statement victory.
Houston escaped with a 75-68 victory in Provo on Tuesday night after holding BYU scoreless over the final two minutes. BYU tied it at 68 on a 3-pointer from Noah Waterman with 2:15 left. Despite holding Houston without a field goal over the final 4 1/2 minutes, BYU could not get a potential go-ahead basket to drop in the final minute.
“We put ourselves in a position where we had a chance and we just couldn’t get over the top of it,” BYU coach Mark Pope said. “We’ll keep battling. We have a really good team and a good group in this locker room.”
Turnovers and offensive rebounds kept BYU from springing an upset against Houston. Over 40 minutes, Houston scored 17 points off 13 BYU turnovers and tallied 15 second-chance points.
BYU also didn’t help itself with struggles from the perimeter. The Cougars shot just 29 percent from beyond the arc while settling for too many long-distance shots early in the shot clock. A lack of consistency from 3-point range has been a persistent problem for BYU against Big 12 opponents.
Still, close losses against Top 25 opponents have the Cougars believing they are on the cusp of breaking through with some big wins to build their NCAA Tournament resume.
“It shows what we’re capable of doing,” BYU point guard Dallin Hall said. “It also shows us that we have even more room to grow, which is exciting.”
BYU leads Texas 4-2 in the series between the two schools. The Cougars edged the Longhorns 86-82 in 2013 in the most recent meeting.
– Field Level Media