Longhorns Topple Aggies in Double OT
By John Razook, 4:10PM, Fri. Mar. 2, 2007
[Editor's note: Be sure to read John Razook's excellent Big XII Conference tourney preview (“Out of Town, to a Conference”) in this week's print edition.]
For all the top-level nonconference games Big XII teams took part in this season, it is conference play that truly brings out the best in the Big XII. At least that's usually the case. I do seem to remember a certain "game" between Oklahoma State and Kansas earlier this season that hardly qualifies as a sporting event. But that's neither here nor there. We're here to discuss this past Wednesday's game between two powerhouse teams from Texas. Yes, Texas, a state that not too long ago spoke "basketball" with all the passion of a dirty word.
The times they are a-changin', though, and it's due to players like Kevin Durant and Acie Law IV, who put on a shooting clinic for the entertainment of the entire nation Wednesday night at the Frank Erwin Center. If you didn't get enough drama watching the Academy Awards (and let's admit it, the only way that spectacle is interesting is if you do as I do and bet heavily on the outcome), then this showdown should satisfy you. For a while. I do smell a tournament approaching, the smell of blood, sweat, and gym socks blowing on the dusty prairie winds ...
Hot damn! It's gonna be a good one. Personally, I still think the OSU-UT triple-overtime game is the best of the year so far, but I can understand Longhorn fans preferring the game against the Aggies. Victory has a way of doing that to a fan's thinking.
Of course, it must be pointed out that had the refs called the intentional foul at the end of second overtime – a call that should have been made, things just might have turned out differently.
Might. Who knows? Nothing to do about it now but wonder. But wonder I do. The Aggies got home-towned. No two ways about it. But that's the way it goes in the world of sport. Not living in College Station, there's no way to know how much crying and bemoaning the missed call is causing. Plenty enough, I imagine.
What's important is that Texas is peaking at the right time. Seizing momentum this time of year is crucial for a team, especially a young team such as the Longhorns. I know Rick Barnes hates to call it a young team, but that's what they are. Heck, it's not like "young team" should be a bad word.
But then, again, not too long ago, "basketball" was a bad word around these parts.
Things change.
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