2/10/03

No. 6 Texas 67, No. 5 Oklahoma 61

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	Brandon Mouton, Sydmill Harris and James Thomas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Brandon Mouton scored 14 points and Royal Ivey hit the key 3-pointer as No. 6 Texas defeated (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) Oklahoma 67-61 Monday night, snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Sooners.

The Longhorns (16-4, 7-2 Big 12) hadn't beaten their border rivals since Jan. 15, 2000. The skid included three straight defeats in the Big 12 tournament and an overtime loss in Austin last season.

Hollis Price scored 23 points for Oklahoma (16-4, 7-2), which dropped out of a tie for first place in the conference with Oklahoma State and Kansas.

A crowd of 15,783 came to the Frank Erwin Center -- easily the most raucous crowd in Texas coach Rick Barnes' five years in Austin -- eager to see Texas end the losing streak. When the final buzzer sounded, hundreds of students rushed the floor to mob the Texas players and sing "The Eyes of Texas'' with the pep band.

	T.J. Ford

Texas, which led most of the game, was ahead 55-54 when Ivey nailed his second 3-pointer to give the Longhorns a four-point lead with 2:11 left to play.

The Sooners, used to getting the best of Texas, got to 60-59 on Price's fifth 3-pointer before Texas' Jason Klotz dropped in a turnaround jumper. Texas made 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Ivey finished with 14 points. James Thomas got his 10th double-double of the season with 11 points and 16 rebounds.

Kevin Bookout scored 12 points and Quannas White had 10 for the Sooners, who outshot Texas 42 percent to 39 percent but were outrebounded 42-34.

The Sooners, who commit the fewest turnovers in the Big 12, had 14, and Texas turned them into 15 points.

Texas started quickly, hitting 12 of its first 21 shots and taking a 28-14 lead. The Sooners rallied behind Price, who hit consecutive 3-pointers, and closed the gap to 31-28 with 1:44 left in the half.

Texas stretched the lead to 36-28 and had a chance to seize momentum before Brian Boddicker, the team's best 3-point shooter, missed. Price then hit his fourth 3-pointer on the other end with 1.8 seconds left to make it 36-31 at halftime.

Oklahoma briefly held the lead in the second half when Ebi Ere's 3-pointer made it 45-43 with 14:06 to play. A layup by Thomas and a jumper by Ivey put Texas back on top, and the Longhorns didn't trail again.

POSTGAME QUOTES

	Jason Klotz

TEXAS HEAD COACH RICK BARNES
ON THE GAME …
“I thought tonight was a great basketball game. Oklahoma is an outstanding defensive team. They were really tough coming down the stretch. I told the guys that we needed to let our defense dictate the game.”

ON TEXAS’ PLAYERS …
“We had a lot of different guys who made good plays for us. T.J. (Ford) did something that a lot of people don’t get to see. His defense in the second half was a major factor for us. Brandon’s (Mouton) big play at the end was huge. I think Deginald (Erskin) was terrific. He had great energy and was a big key player coming down the stretch. (Jason) Klotz did a good job tonight as well.”

TEXAS GUARD ROYAL IVEY
ON THE SPIRIT …
“We played hard and it was a great win. We kept our poise, stayed focused and stayed together. Tonight was a team effort. We had to do this for our fans because they showed their support. We knew that if we played well for 40 minutes then we could win.”

TEXAS GUARD BRANDON MOUTON
ON PLAYING AS A TEAM …
“We were sticking to it as a team. I think we played very well defensively. I was surprised that they stayed in the zone. It was great to beat OU and it was great to see the fans. It was not only a good game for Texas Basketball, but it was a good game for the University of Texas.”

TEXAS GUARD T.J. FORD
ON HIS PERFORMANCE …
“They did a good job defensively. The fans were great and we will expect [their enthusiam] at every game. My offense was out so I needed to play well defensively. It was tough to guard Hollis Price. He had to work for every shot just like I had to work for every shot.”

OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH KELVIN SAMPSON
ON HIS TEAM’S MATCHUP WITH TEXAS …
“We missed a lot of free-throws. When these two teams play, there’s not going to be a lot of easy baskets. Both teams are loaded with talent. One way to score is drive to the basket and get to the free-throw line. We’ve been a good free-throw shooting team, but tonight that’s what let us down.”

ON COMING OUT IN THE SECONG HALF STRONG …
“Our defense was really strong in the second half. Texas is good at rebounding. (James) Thomas is a tenacious rebounder. He’s a very, very good at what he does.”

ON THE RIVALRY BETWEEN TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA …
“These are two great teams and two great programs. We’ve been lucky. We haven’t had any dominance over them. We were lucky to win some of those games, just like Texas could’ve easily won a lot of games against us in the past.”

OKLAHOMA GUARD HOLLIS PRICE
ON TONIGHT’S GAME …
“We came so close. We know how to win close ballgames. This one got away from us. We didn’t make our free-throws and turned the ball over down the stretch. (Brandon) Mouton and (James) Thomas made big shots for Texas and that ended up being the difference.”