Texas takes out LSU in OT

By Associated Press     Dec 11, 2006

Texas guard D.J. Augustin (14) passes the ball around LSU defender Tack Minor (3) during the second half. Augustin had 25 points in Texas' 76-75 overtime victory Sunday in Houston.

? The youthful Texas Longhorns took a big step on Sunday night.

A.J. Abrams hit a three-pointer with 1:03 left in overtime to give Texas the lead, and the Longhorns went on to beat No. 9 LSU 76-75 in a thrilling rematch of last year’s NCAA regional final that also went to overtime.

“I told our team last night, ‘You know, you haven’t done anything yet,”‘ Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “I said, ‘You get a chance to play a Top-10 team. Let’s embrace it.'”

Damion James of Texas (6-2) missed two free throws with 17 seconds left in overtime and his team leading by one, giving the Tigers (5-2) a chance for the win.

After an LSU timeout, Garrett Temple’s three-point attempt from the head of the key bounced off the front of the rim and James grabbed the loose ball for the rebound as time expired.

Texas starts four freshmen and a sophomore and has nine underclassmen on the roster. They played their best game against the toughest opponent they’ve faced so far. The seven Texas freshmen who played scored 65 percent of the Longhorns’ points.

“There comes a point where you’ve got to do something,” Barnes said. “I’m happy for a lot of guys who struggled to this point. We made some good things happen tonight.”

Temple hit a three with 21 seconds left to make it 68-68, the final tie of regulation and the 13th of the game.

Abrams’ three that made it 76-75 was his second of the five-minute overtime.

D.J. Augustin had 25 points for the Longhorns, who won their third straight game against a Top Ten team. Augustin, a freshman from New Orleans, set a career high in front of about 30 family members and another 50 from his high school.

“We’ve been working really hard in practice and we’re going to keep working hard and try to keep winning,” he said.

Freshman Kevin Durant had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Texas, while James had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Tasmin Mitchell had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers, while Glen Davis finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds after a sluggish first half.

The teams went to overtime for the third time in their last four meetings. LSU beat Texas 70-60 in overtime in last year’s Atlanta regional final to advance to the Final Four.

LSU struggled against Texas’ 2-3 zone, shooting 35.5 percent (27-of-76) from the field, including 29.6 percent from three-point range (8-of-27).

“We knew Texas was going to play a lot of zone and at some point, you’ve got to make a basket or two outside of six or eight feet,” LSU coach John Brady said. “We weren’t able to score from the perimeter. But we hit enough big shots to put ourselves in position to win the game.”

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