Derrion Reid’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in overtime proved to be the dagger and Nijel Pack had 23 points as Oklahoma outlasted Texas 88-85 on Saturday in Austin, Texas, in the teams’ regular-season finale.
The Sooners (17-14, 7-11 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight game and headed to the league tournament with a head of steam, still alive to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma, the No. 11 seed, will play No. 14 seed South Carolina in the opening round of the SEC tourney on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. The 10th-seeded Longhorns (18-13, 9-9) will face No. 15 seed Ole Miss in the first round.
Texas was down by a dozen in the second half before fighting back to force overtime at 77-77 on Jordan Pope’s three free throws with 3.6 seconds left.
In the extra period, two free throws by Pack with 3:05 left gave the Sooners an 81-79 lead. Pope gave Texas a one-point edge by way of a second-chance 3-pointer with 1:18 remaining, then Oklahoma went back in front on a putback tip-in by Mohamed Wague 14 seconds later.
Reid added to the lead with his jumper from beyond the arc, and Pack then closed out the Longhorns with another pair of free throws.
Xzayvier Brown added 21 points for the Sooners while Tae Davis had 14 and Reid finished with 11.
Pope led Texas with 30 points. Dailyn Swain added 18, Tramon Mark scored 17 and Matas Vokietaitis hit for 11 for Texas, which is considered to be comfortably in the NCAA Tournament as an at-large invitee.
Texas led by four at halftime before the Sooners rallied, going up 69-57 by making five straight shots, the last a Brown 3-pointer with 6:58 left that capped a 14-2 run. The Longhorns answered as Mark converted two free throws with 27.9 seconds to play and three more with 15.6 seconds left to make it a one-point game.
Davis followed by making both ends of a 1-and-1 free throw opportunity with 14.3 seconds remaining, expanding the Sooners’ lead to three and setting the stage for Pope to tie the game from the charity stripe.
Pope led all scorers before halftime with 16 points while Brown paced the Sooners with 12.
Oklahoma leapfrogged to the front over the first five minutes of the second half, going ahead 48-47 when Davis hit one of two free throws with 14:52 to play.
–Field Level Media
