Texas will look to survive, and even thrive, against another ranked Big 12 opponent when it hosts No. 12 Iowa State on Tuesday in Austin.
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 passed Danny Manning to become the 13th leading scorer in NCAA men’s basketball history. Abmas tallied the Longhorns’ final 13 points, including a personal 11-0 run beginning with 3:25 left that turned a tied game into a decisive 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 to go along with 11 rebounds for Texas.
Tuesday’s game will be the sixth straight for Texas against a ranked conference team.
“We are going to continue to get better as the season goes with our one-on-one defense and sitting down and trying to stay in front of guys,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said Saturday.
“You know we work on it every single day in terms of trying to improve and get better. We’ve still got work to do, but proud of my guys’ effort.”
The Cyclones (16-5, 5-3) head to Austin after a late-seconds 70-68 loss at No. 18 Baylor Saturday.
Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey knocked down a jumper to tie the game with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, but Baylor’s Jayden Nunn hit a jumper with two seconds to play.
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.
“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.”
Momcilovic added 10 points as Iowa State shot 39.3 percent from the field.
– Field Level Media
