Longhorns suffer bubble-bursting loss to Oklahoma, snapping win streak versus Red River rival

When Texas needed a win the most, it could not get the job done. When Texas needed a standout performance from its top player, it didn’t get one. When Texas needed a victory to create a resume that might be worthy of consideration for the field of 68, it lost.

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And in the process, the Longhorns lost to Oklahoma for the first time since 2021.

Final
76-72 Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/5XtJxItLVD

— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) March 9, 2025

Texas fell 76-72 to the Sooners on Saturday night, with future lottery pick Tre Johnson scoring seven points on a disastrous 0-for-14 night from the field. Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser earned his first victory over Texas and snapped an eight-game losing streak the Sooners brought into Saturday’s basketball version of the Red River Shootout.

As a result, the Sooners (19-12, 6-12 SEC) potentially solidified a place in the NCAA Tournament’s field of 68 while likely delegating the Longhorns (17-14, 6-12 SEC) off the bubble with yet another defeat.

Jordan Pope scored 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting for the Longhorns. Arthur Kaluma and Tramon Mark each scored 12 points, and Julian Larry added 10 in the Texas loss.

Oklahoma saw double-digit scoring efforts from Jeremiah Fears (13 points), Brycen Goodine (14 points), Jalon Moore (10 points), Duke Miles (11 points), Glenn Taylor Jr. (10 points), and Luke Northweather (10 points).

The stat lines were remarkably even, just like the entire game. The largest lead for either team was six points. The game was tied 12 times and the lead changed hands 13 times.

Texas was 23-for-59 from the field and Oklahoma was 23-for-58. Texas was 8-for-21 from three while Oklahoma was 8-for-24. The difference, as it typically is during Texas losses, was at the free throw line. The Longhorns were a solid 18-for-23 from the charity stripe, but Oklahoma was 22-for-28.

In a game where everything else was even, those four points were truly the difference.

Oklahoma also took care of the basketball, committing only five turnovers. Meanwhile, Texas committed a respectable 11 but allowed 21 points off of those changes in possession.

The Sooners led by one point with 3:29 left after Fears went 2-for-2 at the line. From that point on, OU won the remainder of the game 9-6 even while leaving a number of points at the free throw line and giving the Longhorns a handful of opportunities they would quickly squander. Fears hit his clutch free throws and finished the night 9-for-10 from the line despite a poor 2-for-14 night from the field of his own.

Johnson picked the worst possible time for his first career game without a field goal. He added seven points at the charity stripe, pulled down seven rebounds, and dished six assists plus two steals in 34 minutes. But Texas’ best player failed to hit a shot from the field, including a missed layup with 30 seconds left that would have made it a two-point game.

Instead, Oklahoma eventually got the ball back after the shot off the iron and turned the missed layup into a pair of free throws to put its lead up to six and provide the needed cushion to leave Austin with a win.

If prior results did not eliminate most available paths to the NCAA Tournament for the Longhorns, the loss to Oklahoma to drop Texas to 6-12 in SEC play assuredly did. Texas now has no choice but to go on a deep run in the SEC Tournament, and they might just have to win the whole thing in order to earn a bid.

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Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte recently said he expects all of his programs to compete at a top-five level and be in the hunt for national championships. It’s hard for Rodney Terry’s program to be in the hunt for a national title if it can’t even make the field of 68, something that does not appear to be in the cards for this year’s Longhorns barring a miraculous Nashville run.

The Longhorns needed a win over Oklahoma for multiple reasons. Bragging rights being one, NCAA Tournament standing being another, and momentum for what is sure to be a tough SEC Tournament the third. A quality night from Johnson at the end of the regular season would have been a good addition as well.

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The Longhorns got none of those things on Saturday, and it’s looking likely that the next loss the Longhorns suffer will end their 2024-25 season and quite possibly Terry’s tenure as head coach of the Longhorns.