Longhorns survive scare from Owls, notch 87-81 win in OT

Dec 12, 2022; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns acting head coach Rodney Terry watches during the first half against the Rice Owls at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but the #7 Texas Longhorns (8-1, 0-0 Big 12) managed a much-needed win on Monday evening against the Rice Owls (6-3, 0-1 C-USA).  Rice matched the Longhorns shot-for-shot for the duration of regulation minutes, before forcing overtime with both teams knotted at 72 points.

Texas pulled away in the overtime period, with Sir Jabari Rice scoring seven of his eleven points on the night in the five-minute frame.  The Longhorns held on en route to an 87-81 OT win to improve to 8-1 on the season.

With the program facing adversity in light of the arrest and pending felony charge against suspended head coach Chris Beard, the Longhorns answered with a hard-fought win over the Owls.

Graduate student guard Marcus Carr led Texas in scoring with 28 points, shooting 9-16 from the field including 4-7 from three-point range.  Senior forward Timmy Allen contributed 15 points and freshman guard Dillon Mitchell added 12 points which included a perfect 6-6 from the free throw stripe.

Junior guard Quincy Olivari shot 45% from the floor and led the Owls in scoring with 28 points.  Guard Travis Evee, also a junior, fouled out in in OT but not before scoring 19 points in 41 minutes played.

As a team Texas shot 50% from the floor and 22.7% from beyond the arc.  Rice shot 43.5% from the floor and 32.1% from three point range.

Associate Head Coach Rodney Terry, who served as head coach in the game against the Owls, won his first game in the role for the Longhorns. 

Up next for Texas is a neutral-court game against Stanford on Sunday.  The Longhorns will play the Cardinal at American Airlines Arena in Dallas as part of the Pac-12 US LBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge.