No rest for Texas as it hosts No. 14 Iowa State in latest clash in Big 12 gauntlet

Texas will look to survive, and even thrive, against another ranked Big 12 opponent when its hosts No. 14 Iowa State on Tuesday in Austin, Texas in the teams’ most recent clash in the conference’s game-to-game gauntlet. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Longhorn Network.

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The Longhorns (15-7, 4-5 Big 12) head home after a wild 77-66 win at No. 25 TCU on Saturday. Max Abmas scored 21 points, 19 of them in the second half, to lift Texas to the victory and snap a two-game losing streak.

Abmas, who in the game passed Danny Manning to become the 13th leading scorer in NCAA men’s basketball history, tallied the Longhorns’ final 13 points, including 11 straight in a stretch beginning with 3:25 left that turned a tied game into a deciding Texas lead.

“The first half I wasn’t making many shots but I knew after halftime I would get some more chances,” Abmas said. “My focus was on just continuing to make the right play to help the team win. I was able to get to the free throw line a little bit and it helped me to be able to see the ball going a little.”

Dylan Disu added 15 points and Dillon Mitchell had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Texas in the win.

Tuesday’s game will be the sixth straight for Texas against a ranked conference team. It’s the first time in program history that the Longhorns will play six consecutive games against teams in the Top 25.

“Playing this stretch of games is a blessing in disguise,” Texas guard Chendall Weaver said. “This will get us ready for the NCAA Tournament. Honestly, that’s how I see it.”

Texas coach Rodney Terry understand the need for his team to be at its best in the face of continued top-shelf competition.

“We’ve got to obviously compete at a very high level, put ourselves in position to try to win these games against highly competitive teams in the Big 12,” Terry said Monday. “The thing I’ve tried to echo to our guys is that in order to be consistent in life you got to do what you do every day and you have to be really big into your routine. And, more importantly, you need to really hone in on the details.

“We’ve got to be sharp in everything we do, we got to win every film session, we’ve got to try to win every practice and every walkthrough we have in terms of our preparation for these games. Now it’s matter of who’s gonna put their will on the game and who’s going to do the uncomfortable things it’s going to take to get it done.”

The Cyclones (16-5, 5-3 Big 12) head to Austin after a 70-68 loss at No. 18 Baylor on Saturday. The game was tied before Baylor’s Jayden Nunn hit a jumper with two seconds to play after Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey had knocked down a jumper to tie things in the clash with 10 seconds remaining.

After Nunn’s jumper, the Cyclones’ Milan Momcilovic hit a banked 3-pointer as time expired that was waived off after video review by game officials. 

“I thought we had time… obviously, it’s a bang-bang play,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said of the final shot. “You don’t know if the clock started at the right time or whatever, but it seemed like everything lined up and we were just a tenth of a second, or whatever it was, late.”

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Iowa State that included victories at then-No. 19 TCU and at home against No. 7 Kansas.

Keshon Gilbert racked up a game-high 24 points to lead the Cyclones on Saturday and helped produce a 20-0 run that erased a 54-41 deficit with 13:17 left in the game. 

“It was just hard work we put in,” Gilbert said of the comeback. “Everything started coming around for us. We always trusted in ourselves. We’ve got a group of guys that fight until the time is up.”

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Momcilovic added 10 points as Iowa State shot 39.3 percent from the field.