AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas got an increase in model points from leaderboards Marcus Carr and Timmy Allen. The surprise was a scattering of points from defensive tackle Brock Cunningham.
Put them all together, and the No. 10 Longhorns pulled off a regular sweep of Oklahoma State with an 89-75 win Tuesday night that put them in the fight for No. 1 in the Big 12.
Carr scored 21 points, Allen added 17, and Cunningham scored a career-high 15 to lead the Longhorns (17-3, 6-2), who scored the most points in their Big 12 wins this season after a defensive tussle 56-46 when they met debuted with the Cowboys on January 7.
Oklahoma State blocked 12 shots in that game but could not match them in the rematch as Texas pressed at a fast pace.
“We’re always looking to run. That’s something we always try to have as an identity,” Carr said. All season we’ve been focusing on speed.”
The Texans’ performance improved to 10-2 under interim head coach Rodney Terry. He took over the team in mid-December when Chris Baird was suspended and then sacked three weeks later. A Texas win and No. 12 Iowa State’s win over No. 5 Kansas State have all three teams sitting 6-2 in league play.
Caleb Boone and John Michael Wright each scored 18 points to lead Oklahoma State (11-9, 3-5).
Texas attacked the basket early behind Dylan DeSeau, Christian Bishop and Allen and threatened to fold when the Longhorns took a 33-25 halftime lead. A deep 3-pointer by Bryce Thompson pulled the Cowboys within 33-30 before Texas closed out the half with a 7-2 lead capped by Sir’Jabari Rice’s 3-pointer from the left wing.
Texas quickly built the lead to 13 going into halftime when Carr caught a steal to set up Allen’s 3-point play, then made a hopping back.
“They were the aggressors,” said Mike Boynton, Jr. of Oklahoma State. “We always reacted to what they were doing rather than taking the fight to them.”
Desso scored 12 and was a defensive powerhouse in the second half, swarming for punts and sacking loose balls to earn the Texans a possession, while Carr and Allen’s mid-range strike prevented the Cowboys from making a run to close the gap.
“This whole week, it was about it being a tough game. This team has taken that message and carried it into the game,” Cunningham said.
3-pointers in a row by Cunningham and Tyrese Hunter pushed the Texans to a 69-58 lead and the Longhorns rode that cushion to the end. Cunningham, who averaged 4.2 points, was shooting 5-of-6 with three three-pointers.
The Big Picture
Oklahoma State: The Cowboys missed junior forward Moussa Cisse, who leads with 12 each in blocked hits (2.4 per game) and rebounding (8.9), but missed another game due to an ankle injury. He had come back for back-to-back wins over Oklahoma and Iowa State but was back off the bench on Tuesday night. The last player to lead the Big 12 in both categories was Mo Bamba of Texas in the 2017-18 season.
TEXAS: Carr, a graduate student playing his sixth season at his third school, is the only active player with at least 2,000 points, 600 assists and 400 rebounds. Carr has 2,099 career points, 494 rebounds and 679 assists after Tuesday night.
Deep seat
Texas continues to boast the deepest lineup in the Big 12. The Longhorns lead the league in scoring off the bench with over 27 points per game, and had 29 points Tuesday night.
next one
Oklahoma State hosts Mississippi in the SEC/Big 12 competition on Saturday.
Texas plays No. 4 Tennessee in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday. The game will pit Terry against his former coach, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes. Terry was an assistant at Texas from 2002 to 2011 when Barnes led the Longhorns program and took Texas to the Final Four in 2003.
___