It didn’t come easy, but Texas basketball finally garnered its first SEC win and its first Quad 1 victory of the season by fending off Oklahoma 77-73 Wednesday in Norman, Okla.
Texas (12-5, 1-3 SEC), which trailed for just 15 seconds in the game, raced out a 53-30 lead early in the second half before a furious Oklahoma (13-4, 0-4) rally trimmed the lead to three points with 7 minutes, 45 seconds left in the game.
But the Longhorns – specifically, guard Jordan Pope – refused to give up the lead. Pope, a 6-foot-2 junior who transferred to Texas from Oregon State in the offseason, scored 19 of his team-high 27 points in the second half. At one point after the break, Pope scored 13 consecutive points for a Texas team that struggled to take care of the ball after halftime.
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In the second half, Texas had 10 of its 15 turnovers and made just one of seven 3-point shots after shooting 6-of-15 from the arc in the first half.
But Pope got some needed help own the stretch from freshman Tre Johnson, who made a pair of clutch baskets in the final 2 minutes and ended the game with 16 points.
Tramon Mark added 15 points for Texas and Kadin Shedrick chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds. That production helped negate a career-high 29 points from OU’s Jalon Moore.
Texas will visit No. 4 Florida Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas vs Oklahoma: Longhorns hold on for first SEC men’s hoops win
