Texas wasn’t going to take no for an answer on a late January Saturday afternoon against its hated rival.
This wasn’t football, where the Red River Rivalry really takes hold, but that didn’t matter either. It was Oklahoma, in Norman, and when the Longhorns fell behind by 14 points, they dug in and fought back. And in the end, Texas came all the way back for a 79-69 victory that, according to the broadcast on ESPN2, represented the program’s largest comeback since January of last year.
The unlikely win in the matchup of unranked SEC schools who can’t stand each other in any sport pushed Texas to 13-9 overall and 4-5 in the league. It was also the Longhorns’ 2nd victory in their past 3 games, as they bounced back from a loss at Auburn.
Dailyn Swain led 5 Texas players in double figures with 18 points, and he also had 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in the rousing road comeback. The Longhorns shot their way back after falling behind by double digits and ended up shooting exactly 60% from the field, making a remarkable 30 of their 50 shot attempts.
Texas also prevailed despite turning the ball over 14 times. It didn’t matter, not with Oklahoma unable to hold onto that big lead on its home court on national TV.
Nijel Pack led Oklahoma with 23 points, but he only shot 9 of 22, as the struggling Sooners fell to 11-11 overall and a horrid 1-8 in the SEC.
It was also OU’s 8th straight loss after opening conference play with a victory that’s still its only SEC win of the season.
Texas will try to keep its momentum going on Tuesday night back at home against South Carolina, with the matchup tipping off at 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
