The No.10 Texas Longhorns rallied to a 79–75 victory against No.17 TCU on Wednesday night at Moody Center.
The Longhorns trailed by as many as 18 points (40–22) in the first half and faced a 12-point deficit (61–49) with 9:36 remaining.
The comeback is the largest for Texas since the Longhorns overcame a 22-point deficit (67–45) with 7:54 remaining during a 92–86 overtime home win against Oklahoma on February 27, 2013.
TCU held the lead for 33 straight minutes before Texas took the lead on a three-pointer by Marcus Carr to put the Longhorns ahead 76–73 with 1:01 remaining.
Timmy Allen posted a team-high 17 points to lead Texas. Sir’Jabari Rice added all 15 of his points in the second half, including three free throws over the final six seconds, to seal the wild Longhorns’ win.
Texas began to chip away early in the second half and rallied behind Rice and Dylan Disu.
Rice scored 10 in a row during one burst, and Disu had 12 in a five-minute span as Texas tied it 71–all on his layup.
Disu finished with a season-high 14 points (12 in the second half) while going a perfect 7-of-7 on field goals and recording three blocks.
“In the Big 12,” Longhorns interim coach Rodney Terry said, adding, “we’re going to be in games like this all season long.”
WHAT TO KNOW
It was an all-around team effort for Texas (14–2, 3–1 Big 12). Allen converted 8-of-13 field goals and added five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block in 32 minutes.
Rice, a graduate transfer, hit 8-of-9 free throws while adding six rebounds in 22 minutes. Carr, another graduate transfer, posted 11 points, seven assists against just one turnover, and five rebounds in 35 minutes.
With the win, UT improved to 7–1 under Terry’s leadership, who is leading on an interim basis. He took over following the firing of Chris Beard after he was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge.
They also get revenge, as the previous time the teams met in last season’s Big 12 tournament, Texas led by 18 at halftime only to watch the Horned Frogs rally to win.
Damion Baugh had a season-high 10 assists with nine points and five rebounds for TCU. The win for the Horned Frogs would have been the program’s first road win over a top-10 opponent.
Instead, TCU (13–3, 2–2 Big 12) dropped its second straight game.
BY THE NUMBERS
Texas has won eight of the last nine and 25 of the previous 33 meetings against the Horned Frogs on the basketball court.
After giving up an eye-popping 116 points in a loss a week ago to No.11 Kansas State, Texas has tightened up the defense.
The Longhorns held Oklahoma State under 50 points last week, then outrebounded TCU by seven in the second half to limit the Horned Frogs’ possessions during the rally.
Texas shot 59% from the floor after the break in its largest comeback win since 2013.
Carr and fellow guard Tyrese Hunter were just 7-of-24 shooting but combined for 13 assists.
WHO SAID
TCU’s Emmanuel Miller led the game with 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting.
“In the second half, we’ve got to pick up our pace and show our will,” Miller said. “We’ve got to know every possession matters. In this league, you mess up one possession, it can cost you the game.”
Texas had six turnovers before it made its first five baskets — all on TCU steals. But those mostly stopped when Texas rallied.
The Longhorns committed only three turnovers in the second half.
“Our defense was really good in the first half,” TCI coach Jamie Dixon said. “We didn’t sustain it. They were just more physical and more active in the second half.”
NEXT UP
Both teams return to action Saturday.
TCU will host No.11 Kansas State at 1 p.m. It will be its fourth straight game against a Top 25 team.
Texas will stay home to host Texas Tech at 7 p.m., and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN.