Longhorns Blow 19-Point Lead; Fall To West Virginia 84-82
After having their previous two games postponed due to Texas winter storms, the Texas Longhorns hit the floor again on Saturday afternoon at the Erwin Center in Austin against the West Virginia Mountaineer, hoping to extend their winning streak.
Unfortunately for the Horns, it was not to be, as they blew a 19-point lead to the mountaineers on their way to an 84-82 loss.
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The Longhorns, who were in the midst of arguably their best shooting performance of the season, looked all but unbeatable in the first 20 minutes of action, taking a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
Texas continued that hot shooting early on in the second half, reaching the 19-point advantage with 18:22 to go in the game following a three-pointer from senior guard Courtney Ramey.
After that, however, the wheels began to come off for the Horns, beginning with a confrontation between star guards Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey during a timeout.
The confrontation began following a missed defensive assignment from Jones at the 16:10 mark that led to a Mountaineer three-pointer, with Ramey taking exception to the mistake.
From that moment on, the Mountaineers stormed back and took control of the game, outscoring the Longhorns 34-18 over the final 16 minutes of play.
Despite the blown lead, however, Texas had multiple chances to either tie or take the lead in the final minute of play, but were unable to convert, turning the ball over with 36 seconds to go, while also missing a Jones three-point attempt with just seconds remaining, as well as a Jericho Sims tip-in attempt as the buzzer sounded.
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The Horns were led by Ramey's 28 points, with the senior hitting 9-of-13 shots from the floor, and 7-of-8 from three. Matt Coleman also added 20 points of his own, while Sims finished with 14 points.
Andrew Jones, who struggled to find his shot all game long, finished with nine points on 4-of-16 shooting and 1-of-7 from three.
Following the loss, Texas (13-6) will remain in Austin where they await a visit from the No.23 Kansas Jayhawks. It will be the second matchup of the season between the two teams after Texas knocked off a then-No. 3 ranked Jayhawk team at Allen Fieldhouse.
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