Longhorns eager for rematch

By Ryan Wood     Mar 11, 2007

Nick Krug
Texas defenders Kevin Durant, left, and Damion James surround Oklahoma State guard Byron Eaton in the second half. UT beat OSU, 69-64, Saturday in Oklahoma City.

? Rarely do second chances surface with such strikingly similar circumstances.

But Texas will get a chance for redemption against Kansas University today for the Big 12 tournament championship – just eight days after KU wrecked the Longhorns’ chance at a share of the regular-season title.

“It’s a big-time win if we get it,” UT freshman Kevin Durant said. “It will be a big-time win for our program.”

Texas topped Oklahoma State, 69-64, in the late semifinal game Saturday to set up the rematch with almost as much at stake.

The Longhorns (24-8) are beginning to resemble a lethal three-headed monster with Durant, D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams all playing terrific basketball of late. The trio combined to take 89 percent of UT’s shots Saturday, with Durant nailing perhaps the biggest one of the tournament to this point.

Tied 61-all with less than a minute to play, Augustin drove to the lane and missed a short shot that would’ve put UT ahead. But Damion James tipped out the rebound to Durant, who calmly drilled a huge three-pointer with 46.3 seconds left to put Texas up for good.

Durant admitted it might have been a bad shot, considering the shot clock was reset.

“But I am glad,” he said, “that I made it.”

Durant scored 26 points, including UT’s first 13. Abrams added 20, and Augustin had 15 and six assists.

Oklahoma State, playing its fifth game in eight days, didn’t seem to run out of gas like one might expect. JamesOn Curry hit several clutch shots and finished with 24 points, while Mario Boggan added 21. Marcus Dove had 12 rebounds and did as solid a job containing Durant as can be expected in a college game.

But Oklahoma State likely looks toward an NIT bid now. Texas, meanwhile, seems to be continuing to improve its seeding before today’s 5 p.m. announcement of the NCAA Tournament brackets.

“I feel like we got three teams (in the Big 12), in Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas all capable of making a run to go to the Final Four,” OSU coach Sean Sutton said.

But first thing’s first – a 2 p.m. game between Texas and Kansas, a matchup of two of the youngest and hottest teams in college basketball.

Kansas – winner over Kansas State in the other semifinal game Saturday – beat Texas, 90-86, on March 3 in Lawrence. It was UT’s only loss in its last nine games.

“I think their depth, when they go to their bench, I think they probably get more athletic,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said of the Jayhawks. “They shot the ball really well against us in Lawrence. They’re a team that’s very worthy of where they are right now in the rankings.

“It is going to take a great effort on our part from a lot of people, not just Kevin, D.J. and A.J. It will take a lot from a lot of other guys doing a lot of the little things for us.”

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23901Longhorns eager for rematch