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Texas needs win over Oklahoma State to keep momentum for NCAA bid

Steve Habelby:Steve Habel•03/01/24•

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Max Abmas ( Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports)

There are just three games remaining on the Big 12 schedule and with plenty left to be decided, the time is now for the enigmatic Texas men’s basketball team to find some consistency.

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A great start to that goal would be to looks to win consecutive games for the first time in five weeks, and the Longhorns will have a excellent chance to do so when they host struggling Oklahoma State for the last scheduled time on Saturday afternoon in a conference dustup at Moody Center. The game tips at 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.

It’s the only regular season game for the Big 12 counterparts and comes in the pivotal final stretch of the grueling conference campaign. Texas is eighth in the league race but just a game out of fifth place while the Cowboys are tied for 13th. 

The Longhorns (18-10, 7-8 Big 12) head home after a gritty 82-69 win at Texas Tech on Tuesday. Texas got 21 points from Dylan Disu in the victory, with Max Abmas adding 18 points and Chendall Weaver hitting for 15 points and taking eight rebounds. The Longhorns shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half and built a 47-23 edge at the break. Texas led by as many as 29 points in the second half and secured the split in the season series with Texas Tech in the last ever scheduled game in the bitter feud.

Texas has not won back-to-back games since Jan. 20 and 23, against then-No. 9 Baylor at home and then-No. 11 Oklahoma on the road, respectively, and needs to defeat Oklahoma State to continue the momentum for an NCAA Tournament bid.

“We have yet to stay locked in to limit distractions, you know, in terms of what’s going on outside your world,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “Have to take care of what we can you control every day and live where our feet are, in terms of our effort, our preparation, and our attention to detail.”

Terry’s one-game-at-a-time mantra has resonated with the team throughout the season. Abmas said there has never been a lack of confidence.

“We talk all the time that the Big 12 is one game at a time,” Abmas explained. “You might lose one, hold on to it for a night, but then you gotta go move on to the next because you got another great team coming in, or you’re going to another great team’s venue. 

“We’ve never lost confidence in ourselves. We still have that urgency and intensity that we need and we’re just continuing to build on that, especially in practice. That way when the game comes we have that urgency that we need.”

The Longhorns are No. 33 in the latest NET rankings (through games of Feb. 29) and No. 26 in the latest KenPom team rankings (through games of Feb. 29).

The Cowboys (12-16, 4-11 Big 12) head to Austin after a 77-71 loss at home to UCF on Wednesday. John-Michael Wright led Oklahoma State with a season-high 22 points in the setback while Eric Daily Jr. had 15 and Javon Small hit for 13 points. 

There were 54 fouls called in the game, the most of any Oklahoma State contest in seven years.

“We let one slip. That was a game we should have won,” Wright said. “The season is coming down to an end. We need to salvage as much as we can. (The Big 12 Tournament) is right around the corner.”

Oklahoma State has lost two in a row and 11 of its last 15 games and as 1-11 away from home this season. The Cowboys are all but assured of a bottom-four finish in the Big 12, which means a spot in the first round of the conference tournament it would have to win to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

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The Longhorns have captured 16 of the last 19 meetings between the teams that have been played in Austin.

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