Men's Basketball edged by Kansas State in overtime, 85-81
Jan. 31, 2009 Box Score AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Denis Clemente tied a Big 12 record with 44 points, leading Kansas State to an 85-81 overtime upset of No. 11 Texas on Saturday, ending the Longhorns' 19-game home winning streak. Clemente tied the conference mark set last season by former Wildcat Michael Beasley. He went 6-of-6 on 3-pointers and his last two free throws with 6.9 seconds left in overtime put the game away. Fred Brown had given Kansas State the lead with a 3-pointer with 18.6 seconds left. Brown finished with 13 points for the Wildcats (14-7, 3-4). Texas had rallied from 17 points down in the second half to send the game into overtime. Damion James scored 19 points to lead the Longhorns (15-5, 4-2). Texas' A.J. Abrams made four 3-pointers to break the Big 12 career mark of 338 he shared with Kansas' Jeff Boschee (1999-2002). Kansas State led 63-46 with 7:01 to play when Clemente and Brown combined for eight straight points before Texas started to rally. Abrams hit a 3-pointer, converted a three-point play and then struck again from long range as the Longhorns cut it to 69-64 with 3:01 left. Withering ball pressure by Texas defenders and misfires by Kansas State shooters kept the comeback going on a steady pace. The Longhorns finally made it 74-74 to send it to overtime when Justin Mason powered over Jacob Pullen in the lane for a layup with 9 seconds left. Clemente had a chance to win it in the final seconds but his off-balance shot was too long. Kansas State opened the overtime with four straight points on free throws by Clemente and a layup by Ron Anderson before Texas answered with baskets from Damion James and Mason. Texas' Gary Johnson tied it 79-79 with a free throw before Brown made the long 3-pointer from the left wing. He let the shot go with just 4 seconds left on the shot clock. Clement was 13-of-25 from the field and Kansas State shot 38 percent, but the Wildcats went 23-of-35 from the free throw line and forced 20 turnovers. At halftime, Texas retired the No. 15 jersey of basketball Hall of Famer Slater Martin. A guard, Martin led Texas to a 63-14 record from 1947-49 and a third-place finish in the NCAA tournament in 1947. Martin played 11 seasons in the NBA, winning five titles. POSTGAME NOTES A.J. Abrams Gary Johnson TEXAS QUOTES On Kansas State's defense: Past opponents would back off in the lane and try to keep us from going inside and try to make us settle for outside shots. It's been a long time since someone has come out and guarded us. But that's how we play defense too. We were sloppy with the ball and we didn't do the things we talked about carrying over. That's the most disappointing from where I sit. We have certain guys that need to make some plays. SENIOR GUARD A.J. Abrams On Denis Clemente: We knew coming in he was a good player, but no one expects that coming in someone will drop 44 points on you. He had a good night. He hit all his threes and was shooting well. On the first half: We didn't come up with the right intensity we showed in the second half. We should have had that in the first half. We should have been more aggressive. On Kansas State: We knew coming in they were a good team. We watched film. They have good players and they've been playing good basketball the past few games, we knew we had our hands full. JUNIOR FORWARD Damion James On preparations for tonight's game: We've really been having a lot tough practices and we knew what we were getting in to. They're a really good defensive team and they're really physical. I don't think we took them lightly; they just threw the first punch and had us on our heels the whole game. On today's loss: It's not the end of the world, we have to take these games and learn from them. This might be the game that it took to put a spark under us and make us step our game up, losing happens, and we have to be the team that we are and come in and work hard and go at it again. SOPHOMORE GUARD Justin Mason On Denis Clemente's speed and the fast tempo of the game: He is a great player and he pushes the ball well. The whole Kansas State team kept pressuring us the whole game and I'm sure both teams were tired. KANSAS STATE QUOTES On his team's first half performance: I was happy the way we played the first half. That's probably as well as we've played all year, those first 20 minutes of the game on both ends of the floor, consistently. I thought offensively we got the shots we were trying to get in the first half, we just didn't make them. They stayed the course and continued to rebound and defend, and that gave us a chance. On Denis Clemente: Denis is a heck of a player. He's been making the adjustment after transferring and sitting out last year. That's not easy. I'm so proud of him. He's taken this team, like he should because he's our most experienced player, by the horns here and just led us, especially after the tough times. His personality has taken over our team. JUNIOR GUARD DENIS CLEMENTE On what he used to get open: I used my speed. I play fast. I'm faster than everybody, that's how I feel. SOPHOMORE GUARD FRED BROWN On his 3-pointer in overtime: It was crunch time. You've got to step up and make plays. I didn't' know there were six seconds on the clock. I said, ‘I've got to make a play', and that's what happened.
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