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Texas and Big 12 Basketball Capsules: Brown, James lead No. 3 Texas past Pittsburgh
Comments 0 | Recommend 0KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This was a very costly victory for No. 3 Texas.
Starting guard Varez Ward crumbled onto the court with a right knee injury before the game even started. His replacement, J'Covan Brown, scored 12 points and helped lead the Longhorns past Pittsburgh 78-62 for the championship of the CBE Classic.
But Ward was removed from the arena in a wheelchair and was to be examined on Wednesday in Texas.
"Honestly, I don't think it looks good," said Texas coach Rick Barnes.
Damion James had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Longhorns (4-0), who will return to the same building in March for the Big 12 tournament and a possible showdown with No. 1 Kansas.
But whether Ward is able to play by then was impossible to know.
"I think he just came down and landed wrong," Barnes said. "He wasn't trying to do anything. It was just one of those freak things. He's such a big part of our team. He's had such a great offseason and preseason. It's just one of those tough breaks for him. We're hoping he's going to be OK, but right now it doesn't look real good."
Texas took charge with a 14-3 run in the second half that ended the Panthers' remarkable run of 38 consecutive victories in the month of November.
Pittsburgh (4-1) was led by Brad Wanamaker with 13 points and Gary McGhee with 11.
Avery Bradley and Dexter Pittman each had 10 points for Texas, though Pittman was a non-factor in the second half after picking up an early third foul.
Trailing 32-23 after Gary Johnson hit a jumper with 4:44 left in the first half, the Panthers finished with an 11-0 run and shocked the favored Longhorns by taking a 34-32 lead at the break.
Gary McGhee made two free throws in the surge and then Lamar Patterson hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 35-second span to tie it up. Dante Taylor, fouled by Gary Johnson, sank two free throws with 33 seconds left to send the Panthers into halftime with their first lead of the night.
But the Longhorns finally regained the lead at 44-43 on Johnson's two free throws following an intentional foul call on Brad Wanamaker. The next 5 minutes saw four more lead changes and one tie before Texas pulled away with a 14-3 run, fueled by James' three-point play and Jordan Hamilton's 3-pointer. Justin Mason's gliding lay-in gave the Longhorns a 63-54 lead with 7:27 to go and then Alexis Wangmene's short jumper made it 65-54 before Wanamaker's three-point play halted the surge.
"It just came down to execution and they executed better in the second half than we did," said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. "They got better shots than we did, that's the bottom line. The percentages indicate that. They shoot 65 percent in the second half, we shoot 37 percent."
Pittman, after scoring 10 points in the first half, picked up his third foul in the opening minutes of the second half and wound up with only 10 points and one rebound. But neither he nor Ward was sorely missed by the talented Longhorns.
"They're a pretty good team. You have to give them your respect," said Wanamaker. "They're long and athletic and well coached. But we still think we should have won the game."
Pittsburgh had not lost in November since South Florida beat the Panthers 69-63 on Nov. 25, 2001.
Oklahoma State overtakes Prairie View 80-58
STILLWATER, Okla. — Through three games of his Oklahoma State career, Matt Pilgrim had scored 12 points and committed 12 personal fouls.
But the 6-foot-8 first-year transfer from Hampton finally avoided the whistles in Oklahoma State's 80-58 victory over Prairie View A&M on Tuesday.
"I was happy to be able to play," said Pilgrim, who scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Cowboys (4-0). "It's been kind of tough the first three games because I've always been in foul trouble. I've been watching what Marshall (Moses) has been doing, just trying to pick up what I've been doing wrong."
OSU head coach Travis Ford knew Tuesday night's game wasn't going to be easy.
"We played like we practiced on Monday," Ford said. "It's nice to get a win and move on to the next one. We didn't come out very focused but I saw that coming."
Keiton Page and Pilgrim led OSU in the first half with Page scoring nine of his career-high 22 points in the period. Pilgrim scored nine of his 15 in the opening 20 minutes.
"(Pilgrim) had it rolling pretty good," said Ford. "He rebounds above the rim better than anybody I've coached. The biggest thing for Matt, whether he starts or comes off the bench, is to remain focused."
Oklahoma State's 20th-straight win at home against non-conference opponents was not a thing of beauty.
Prairie View A&M (2-2) got 16 points from Darnell Hugee, 12 from Alex Richman and 10 from Dorian McDaniel.
"We knew it was a tough place to play," said PAVMU coach Byron Rimm. "We were kind of behind the eight ball with a couple of players sitting out. I'm happy because we played hard."
PAVMU led early thanks to a pair of 3-point field goals by Richman.
"We did a good job in the first part of the game," Rimm said, "but we just don't have the depth when we substitute."
OSU took its first lead, 12-11, on a Marshall Moses lay-up with 10:45 left until halftime. Pilgrim's short field goal in traffic and a free throw put the hosts up 21-15 at the 8:31 mark.
The lead quickly ballooned to 27-15 on back-to-back 3-point field goals by Page.
Late in the first half the visitors trailed just 29-20 before Oklahoma State closed with a 6-0 run. Ray Penn's 12-foot jumper, James Anderson's dunk in transition and Obi Muonelo's put-back at the buzzer sent the Cowboys to the break with a 35-20 advantage.
Anderson, the Big 12 Conference's leading scorer averaging 25.7 points entering the game, hit four of 12 shots including one from 3-point range.
Both sides struggled from the floor in the opening 20 minutes with the Panthers hitting just eight of 26 (30.8-percent) and the Cowboys converting 13 of 34 (38.2-percent).
McDaniel hit a short jumper and a 3-point field goal to draw PVAMU within 42-30 early in the second half. Richman's fourth 3-pointer of the contest made it 42-33.
However, Oklahoma State responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Page and Muonelo to push the advantage back to 48-33 with 15:25 to play.
The Panthers never got closer than 12 the rest of the night.
"I didn't really feel anything special. My teammates just did a good job of penetrating and finding me," Page said. "I want to do whatever I can to help the team win games."
Texas Tech holds off Stephen F. Austin 63-61
NACOGDOCHES — Texas Tech remained unbeaten Tuesday with a 63-61 victory over Stephen F. Austin.
The Red Raiders (6-0) led by as many as 16 points early in the second half before Stephen F. Austin (1-2) went on a 13-6 run over the final 4:37 and came within two points (62-60) with 10 seconds remaining.
After Mike Singletary made one of two free throws to extend the lead to 63-60, the Red Raiders fouled Eddie Williams before he could launch a 3-pointer.
Williams hit the first free throw with 4 seconds left. His second attempt bounced high off the back iron. In the ensuing scrum, SFA’s Jordan Glynn came up with the ball but missed on what would have been the game-tying shot as time expired.
Darko Cohadarevic led Texas Tech with 18 points, and John Roberson added 14.
Williams scored 19 points and Jereal Scott had 15 for Stephen F. Austin.
Texas-Arlington defeats Texas-Permian Basin 70-47
ARLINGTON — Marquez Haynes and Brandon Long each scored 19 points to lead Texas-Arlington to a 70-47 victory over Texas-Permian Basin on Tuesday night.
Long scored 11 of his points in the first 20 minutes, and Haynes, who came into the game averaging 30.3 points, shot 6 of 11, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
The Mavericks (2-2) led 38-24 at halftime and extended their lead to as much as 24 in the second half.
Elijah Thomas had 11 points for the Falcons (0-2), who suited up only eight players. Two players were out due to injury and another was not with the team.
Sam Houston State beats Oral Roberts 71-65
CANCUN, Mexico — Corey Allmond scored 17 points and Ashton Mitchell added 16 to lead Sam Houston State to a 71-65 win over Oral Roberts in the Cancun Classic on Tuesday.
The Bearkats (3-2) trailed 51-48 with 9:36 left in the second half after a layup by Oral Roberts’ Damen Bell-Holter and Kryon Stokes’ jumper. Sam Houston State answered with 11 straight points, led by Allmond’s 11 points during the run to pull ahead 59-51.
Kevin Ford’s layup cut the margin to one point with 42 seconds left for the Golden Eagles (2-3). But the Bearkats secured the victory as Preston Brown followed with a three-point play and Lance Pevehouse added two free throws down the stretch.
Sam Houston State, which shot 28-for-56 from the floor, scored 21 points off of Oral Roberts’ 17 turnovers.
Michael Craion led Oral Roberts with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Big 12
Nebraska’s defense rules in 70-48 win over UMKC
LINCOLN, Neb. — Sek Henry scored 14 points and Nebraska’s defense smothered Missouri-Kansas City in a crushing 70-48 win on Tuesday night.
Nebraska (3-1) began the second half with a 17-point lead after holding the Kangaroos (3-1) to just eight field goals and 30 percent shooting in the first.
The Huskers were never challenged after that, leading by as many as 28 before Nebraska coach Doc Sadler cleared his bench late in the game.
Tied at 10 after the first 10 minutes, Nebraska went on to score 31 more points before intermission while holding Missouri-Kansas City to just 14.
The Kangaroos had 10 second-half field goals and finished with 35 percent shooting from the field.
The Huskers forced 14 turnovers, six of them steals and seven blocked shots.
Lance Jeter added 12 points and Jorge Brian Diaz had 10 for Nebraska. Jay Couisnard led the Kangaroos with 11 points.
Wise’s 30 lead Arizona past Colorado 91-87 in OT
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Nic Wise scored 30 points, including 16 of his team’s final 19, to lead Arizona past Colorado 91-87 in overtime Tuesday in a consolation game at the Maui Invitational.
Wise appeared to give the Wildcats (3-1) enough of a cushion when he scored his team’s final eight points of regulation, on two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws, to give them an 80-72 lead with 52 seconds left.
Earlier, he assisted on a 3-point play by Solomon Hill to tie the game 72-72 with 3:09 left.
But Wise’s point-guard counterpart, Cory Higgins, led the Buffaloes (3-2) back. Higgins assisted on a 3-pointer by Nate Tomlinson and hit a 3-pointer himself. Then his free throws with 20 seconds left sent the game to overtime.
In overtime, Wise sank two free throws to bring his team within 85-84 with 3:20 left, and his layup put the Wildcats ahead to stay 86-85 with 2:42 left.
Wise hit another 3-pointer to make it 89-85 with 1:37 to go, and he added a free throw to make it 90-85 with 33 seconds left.
Arizona hit 30 of 57 shots (52.6 percent), including 14 of 24 from 3-point range (58.3 percent).
Jamelle Horne had 17 points, Brendon Lavender 16 and Derrick Williams 11 for Arizona. Wise added six asissts.
Higgins finished with 28 points, Tomlinson 20, Alec Burks 19 and Austin Dufualt 14 for the Buffaloes.
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