Texas Longhorns Suffer Potential Season-Ending Loss to Oklahoma Sooners

AUSTIN -- The Texas Longhorns have seen their chances of at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament come to an end in heartbreaking fashion.

Oklahoma guard Brycen Goodine scored a team-high 14 points and the Sooners marched in to Austin to seal a crucial 76-72 win over Texas in the regular-season finale Saturday. The two rivals entered the game hovering around the NCAA Tournament bubble with a potential season-ending loss on the line for both sides.

Texas had won eight straight in the series and nine of the last 10 but the Sooners ended what had been a dreadful drought in the Red River Rivalry.

Mar 8, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry yells out to players during the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears had 13 points and four assists.

Texas guard Jordan Pope finished with a game-high 21 points while Tramon Mark and Arthur Kaluma both had 12 points apiece. Julian Larry added 10 points.

Texas star freshman Tre Johnson had a game to forget, finishing with seven points on 0 of 14 shooting. He had seven rebounds and six assists but missed some crucial shots down the stretch.

Texas finished with a 44-32 edge on the glass but were done in by allowing Oklahoma to score 21 points off of 11 Longhorn turnovers.

Pope got hot from the jump, hitting a quick triple after an opening steal from Mark but the Sooners quickly answered and built a 7-3 lead. Texas responed with a 6-0 run of its own before a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from Larry at the 12-minute put Texas up 14-12.

Five Texas free throws were sandwiched in between two triples from Taylor Jr. as the two teams kept trading blows. Oklahoma then put a 6-0 run together before Pope nailed back-to-back 3s of his own.

Fittingly, the game was tied at 37 headed into halftime.

Oklahoma built a 42-39 lead after a 3-pointer from Goodine coming out of the locker room.

Some back-and-forth continued when Larry, Mark and Duke Miles all traded 3-pointers before Oklahoma got a major momentum swing on a fastbreak dunk from Fears, giving the Sooners their largest lead at that point of five. The Sooners were unable to capitalize though, as the two teams continued to deal blows before Elvis scored five straight points for the Sooners to put them up 63-58 with 7:49 to play.

Kaluma kept up his strong second half with a catch-and-shoot triple to cut the lead to one.

After not holding a lead since the 18:21 mark of the second half, Johnson found a cutting Pope for an acrobatic up-and-under layup that put Texas up 66-65 with 3:47 to play.

However, this was the final bit of hope Texas had. Fears quickly gave OU the lead back with a pair of free throws before Miles converted a three-point play to put the Sooners up 70-66 with 2:42 remaining. Goodine then nailed a catch-and-shoot triple from the corner to make it a six-point lead.

Down three, Texas had one faint chance with 1.9 seconds left after two missed free throws from Miles but the Longhorns were unable to get off a final shot.

Texas will now head to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

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