Reaves’ 23 Points, Late FT Lift Oklahoma Over Texas 80-79

Austin Reaves scored 23 points and made two free throws with 18.3 seconds left that proved to be the difference as No. 24 Oklahoma beat short-handed No. 5 Texas 80-79 on Tuesday night.

Reaves’ free throws gave the Sooners a three-point lead before Andrew Jones made two free throws seconds later to get Texas within one. The Longhorns nearly forced a turnover on the inbounds pass before fouling Oklahoma’s Jalen Hill with 2.3 seconds to play.

Hill missed his first free throw, then intentionally missed his second but failed to hit the rim, giving Texas the ball. The Sooners (10-4, 6-3) then intercepted a long pass to end the game, sending Texas (11-3, 5-2) to its second Big 12 home loss. The Sooners have won four in a row.

Texas had rallied from 11 down in the second half despite foul trouble that reduced the Longhorns to five scholarship players by the end.

Reaves scored Oklahoma’s final six points. Elijah Harkless scored 13 and Umoja Gibson had 12 for the Sooners.

Texas played without coach Shaka Smart, who announced Monday he has COVID-19 and is in isolation from the team and his family, and players Courtney Ramey, Jericho Sims and Brock Cunningham. Ramey and Sims are starters. The school did not immediately give a reason why the players were unavailable, and assistant coach K.T. Turner was the acting head coach for the Longhorns.

Even with those reduced numbers and the foul trouble, the Longhorns rallied behind Andrew Jones, who scored 13. Kai Jones finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: The Sooners just appeared in the Top 25 for the first time season and face quite the run of games if they hope to stay there. They are in the middle of a rugged stretch of playing seven ranked opponents in eight games.

Texas: The Longhorns are getting turned upside down by COVID-19 like some other programs have this season. Texas hasn’t said when Smart might return.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma hosts No. 9 Alabama on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Texas plays at Kentucky on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.