Field Level Media
Mar 12, 2021
On a busy day of Big 12 Conference tournament games that were decided by single digits, the Texas-Texas Tech matchup went down to the final seconds.
Matt Coleman III drew a foul in the lane on a drive as time was running out and swished both free throws with 1.8 seconds on the clock, and the No. 13 Longhorns survived for a 67-66 victory in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday when Jericho Sims intercepted a long pass by the 20th-ranked Red Raiders.
Texas (18-7) advanced to the tournament semifinals to face No. 11 Kansas on Friday. Texas Tech (17-10) will wait to learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday.
The Longhorns were down most of the second half after they coughed up a narrow halftime lead they had built by closing out the first 20 minutes with a 12-0 run.
Down 66-65, Texas got the ball back when Brock Cunningham stripped the ball from Terrence Shannon Jr., who was driving for a shot to beat the shot clock.
The Longhorns missed two shots but got offensive rebounds on both -- the second when Shannon deflected the ball out of bounds.
After a timeout, Coleman got the ball, drove to create a shot and got fouled with 1.8 seconds on the clock.
Coleman led Texas with 19 points while Jase Febres contributed 15 on five 3-pointers. The Longhorns connected on 11 of 26 from deep overall.
Shannon paced the Red Raiders with 18 points but managed only seven in the second half. Kevin McCullar scored 11, but he and Shannon each shot only 5-of-13 from the field.
Texas Tech charged to a 48-38 lead by outhustling Texas in the initial eight minutes after halftime. But the Longhorns rallied to take a 54-53 lead with 7:55 to go, triggering a stretch when the teams swapped the lead four times on four straight possessions.
--Field Level Media