Published: February 14, 2009 11:18 pm      

Abrams, James propel Texas to OT win over Colorado

Texas Men's Roundup

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Tie game. Just 1.6 seconds left in regulation. Two free throws to win it.

This was the type of situation Damion James dreamed of, the Texas forward feeling quite certain both attempts were going in.

Instead, his free throws went clang and clang.

Focusing on redemption not dejection, James scored six of his 21 points in overtime to help Texas hold off Colorado 85-76 on Saturday.

“I was determined not to let my team lose,” James said. “If we would’ve lost, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.”

James can sleep just fine now.

Nobody said anything to him on the bench before overtime began. No one needed to.

“It happens,” said James, who also finished with 14 rebounds. “I missed them. We won. I’m happy.”

A.J. Abrams thinks he knows why his teammate missed the pair — James wanted a little bonus hoops before heading back.

“He wanted to keep on playing. I don’t think he wants to go back to Texas yet,” Abrams said, grinning.

Abrams certainly did his part, scoring 29 points, including five in overtime. He never came out of the game, playing all 45 minutes.

Exhausted?

Hardly.

“I didn’t get too winded. I was pretty good the whole game,” Abrams said.

Colorado’s Dwight Thorne II had his hands full, spending the entire afternoon chasing Abrams around the gym, giving him precious few open looks.

It didn’t matter. Abrams doesn’t need to be all that open to shoot, just a tiny crack.

“It was a tough task,” Thorne said. “I did an OK job, what’d he get?”

Uh, 29.

“So I didn’t do a great job at it,” Thorne said. “It was just tough.”

Overlooked with his offensive exploits was Abrams’ work on the defensive end. He’s become quite the defender, even drawing a crucial charge call when Thorne ran over him late in the game.

“He’s had a terrific year,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “People don’t really realize what he’s done on both ends of the floor, in terms of his consistency.”

The Longhorns (17-7, 6-4 Big 12) had trouble keeping tabs on Cory Higgins, who scored a career-high 34 points. His previous high was 33 against Colorado State on Dec. 10.

Not too bad for having a cold.

“I hope he gets this sick all the time,” Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “His leadership is awesome.”

Talk about a turnaround. The Buffaloes (9-15, 1-9) were coming off a demoralizing 70-42 loss at Iowa State in which they scored just nine points in the first half.

They gave the Longhorns quite a scare, before dropping their fourth straight game to Texas.

Then again, the Buffaloes do seem to give the top echelon teams in the Big 12 fits, taking Kansas, Oklahoma and now Texas to the wire, only to wind up short. Colorado has lost nine of its last 10 games.

“If you think they’re going to lay down, believe me, they’re not going to do that,” Barnes said. “They make it hard on everybody.”

The Buffaloes, who trailed by as many as 15 points, tied the game at 72 when Jermyl Jackson-Wilson sank two free throws with 7.6 seconds left.

Then Jackson-Wilson fouled James, sending him to the line with a chance for the win. But he missed the pair, both bouncing off the back iron.

James refused to sulk on the bench, feeling sorry for himself.

That’s not his style.

James had a baby hook, a dunk and two free throws in overtime as the Longhorns outscored Colorado 13-4 to win their second straight game after three straight.

“Shows what kind of person he is — bounces back, did what he had to do to help,” Abrams said. “That man’s focused. He knows exactly what he’s supposed to do.”

Other Texas Results

Baylor 72, Texas A&M 68

WACO (AP) — Curtis Jerrells and Tweety Carter scored 14 points apiece to lead Baylor past Texas A&M 72-68 in a physical game that ended with a brief skirmish Saturday night.

Trailing by five, the Aggies pulled within 70-68 on a 3-pointer by Donald Sloan, but Jerrells answered with a drive and a short jumper with 12.6 seconds remaining.

After Sloan missed another 3-point try and Texas A&M quickly fouled, Jerrells took an inbound pass and dribbled out the clock before the Aggies could foul him. Jerrells was shoved as the buzzer sounded, forcing officials and coaches to separate players and lead them off the court.

Josh Carter scored 20 lead to Texas A&M (17-8, 3-7 Big 12). Bryan Davis, Derrick Roland and Sloan had 13 apiece.

Kevin Rogers and Anthony Jones scored 12 each for Baylor (16-9, 4-7).

East Carolina 91, Rice 88 OT

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — James Legan scored 20 points and hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in overtime to lift East Carolina past Rice 91-88 on Saturday night.

Darius Morrow added 19 points and Sam Hinnant chipped in with 17 for the Pirates (13-11, 5-6 Conference USA). Brock Young, who leads conference with 7.61 assists per game, had 17 points and 14 assists for East Carolina.

The Pirates, who lead the conference in 3-pointers made (8.78), were 11 of 22 from beyond the arc (50 percent). Rice (8-15, 3-7), which is the league’s top 3-point shooting team (38.7 percent), hit 46.2 percent of its shots from the 3-point line (12 of 26).

The Pirates hit 53.7 percent of their shots from the field (29 of 54) and 80 percent of their free throws (22 of 25).

The Owls, who hit 66.7 percent of their free throws (10 of 15), were led by 24 points from Rodney Foster and 21 from Trey Stanton.

BYU 79, TCU 63

FORT WORTH (AP) — Lee Cummard scored 24 points and made all 10 of his free throws to lead BYU to a 79-63 victory against TCU on Saturday night.

Jonathan Tavernari added 19 points for the Cougars (19-5, 7-3 Mountain West), including five straight during a 7-0 run that closed the first half and gave BYU a 40-26 lead.

Kevin Langford scored 19 points and was 8-of-8 on free throws to lead the Horned Frogs (13-12, 4-7). Edvinas Ruzgas scored 14, and Zvonko Buljan had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cougars led 43-33 early in the second half when Jimmer Fredette started another 7-0 run with two free throws and finished it with a steal and three-point play for a 51-33 lead with 15:58 remaining.

Fredette finished with 16 points and five assists.

Houston 83, Tulane 64

HOUSTON (AP) — Zamal Nixon scored 23 points and Houston made 27 of 28 free throws in an 83-64 victory against Tulane on Saturday night.

Marcus Cousin led the way at the free-throw line for the Cougars (16-7, 7-3 Conference USA), going 8-of-8. Qa’rraan Calhoun had the only miss from the line, going 0-for-1, but scored 10 points to go with five rebounds and four steals.

Kris Richard scored 20 points to lead Tulane (10-14, 4-7). Eric Vianney had 16.

Leading by eight, the Cougars took control with an 8-0 run that put them ahead 35-19 with 3:22 remaining in the first half. Nick Mosley made four free throws during the spurt.

North Texas 89, Middle Tennessee 78

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Josh White scored 26 points and Adam McCoy added 24 to lead North Texas to an 89-78 win over Middle Tennessee State on Saturday night.

Tristan Thompson added 11 points for the Mean Green (14-10, 7-6 Sun Belt Conference), who won their third game in a row.

Desmond Yates led the Blue Raiders (15-10, 8-5) with 19 points, Kevin Kanaskie added 15 and Montarrio Haddock had 12.

Middle Tennessee beat North Texas 89-80 in OT in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 31.

This one was decided much earlier, as the Mean Green opened the game on a 11-4 run and led 43-24 at halftime.

The Mean Green shot 60.4 percent from the floor (29 of 48) en route to the victory, compared to just a 42.9 percent mark (24 of 56) for the Blue Raiders.

North Texas hit 10 3-pointers versus only three for Middle Tennessee. White was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Texas State 71, Lamar 67

BEAUMONT (AP) — Brent Benson scored 24 points and Cameron Johnson hit the go-ahead layup in the final minute to lead Texas State past Lamar 71-67 Saturday night.

Johnson gave the Bobcats (11-13, 4-7 Southland) a lead with two free throws before breaking a 65-65 tie on a lay-up with 55 seconds remaining. After a missed jumper by the Cardinals, Brandon Bush made two more free throws for a 69-65 lead.

Johnson finished 13 points, and Bush added 14.

Kenny Dawkins scored 18 points to lead Texas State (12-12, 3-7). Jay Brown and Brandon McThay had 14 apiece, with Brown chipping in 11 rebounds and two blocks.

The game featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes, and the largest lead was just seven points by Texas State with 15 minutes remaining in the game.

McNeese State 59, Stephen F. Austin 56

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — John Pichon scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help McNeese State’s late rally in a 59-56 win over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.

Stephen F. Austin held a 56-50 lead on Eric Bell’s two free throws with 3:35 left in the game. But the Lumberjacks were held scoreless the rest of the way, as Kleon Penn and Diego Kapelan each made two free throws then John Pichon scored on a three-point play to give the Cowboys (10-13, 4-6 Southland Conference) a 57-56 lead with 1:45 remaining.

Penn, who finished with 11 points, scored on a dunk with 59 seconds left to seal the game for the McNeese State. Kapelan had 13 points.

The Cowboys shot 56.4 percent from the field (22-for-39) for the game — 64.7 percent in a second half (11 of 17).

Matt Kingsley led the Lumberjacks (16-7, 8-3) with 22 points and Josh Alexander added 15.

UTEP 74, Marshall 67

EL PASO (AP) — Stefon Jackson made all 20 of his free throws and finished with 35 points to lead Texas-El Paso to a 74-67 victory over Marshall on Saturday night.

Jackson scored the last eight points for the Miners (15-9, 6-4 Conference USA) in the final 34 seconds after Marshall had pulled within two at 66-64. Six of those eight points came at the line.

Chris Lutz scored 24 points for Marshall (11-14, 3-7), and all seven of his field goals were 3-pointers. He was 7-of-18 from the beyond the arc. Markel Humphrey had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Jackson was the only UTEP player in double figures, but Arnett Moultrie had 12 rebounds to go with seven points.

Prairie View A&M 76, Grambling State 70

GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Derek Johnson scored 14 of his 19 points from the free-throw line to lead Prairie View A&M to a 76-70 victory over Grambling State on Saturday night.

Johnson went 14 of 18 from the free-throw line as the Panthers (11-13, 7-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) won their second consecutive game.

Prairie View was 25 of 33 from the line. Grambling (6-17, 4-8), which has lost three in a row, was 7 of 9 from the line.

The Panthers led 29-28 at halftime.

Darnell Hugee added 17 points and Dorian McDaniel and Jocoie Shivers each added 11 points for the Panthers. Shivers also had eight rebounds to help Prairie View outrebound the Tigers 38-31.

Ibrahim Kpaka hit five 3-pointers to lead Grambling with 17 points. Marcus Coleman added 14 points and Donald Qualls added 11 points.

Grambling was 9 of 23 from the 3-point line (39.1 percent).

Texas-Pan American 86, Longwood 82

EDINBURG (AP) — Emmanuel Jones scored 25 points and Jared Maree added 23 to lead Texas-Pan American past Longwood 86-82 Saturday night.

Jones was 11-of-12 from the field and Miller was 10-of-12 as the Broncs shot 69 percent. Nathan Hawkins added 13 points for Texas-Pan American (7-16).

Ryan Bogan scored 23 points for Longwood, which got within a point several times but trailed the entire second half. Kevin Swecker scored 18, Neil Durann had 14 and Dana Smith had 13 for the Lancers (14-11).

Longwood shot 42 percent from the field and trailed 43-40 at the half.

Jackson State 72, Texas Southern 63

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Darrin Griffin scored 14 points and Jackson State beat Texas Southern 72-63 for its sixth straight win on Saturday night.

Jeremy Caldwell hit two free throws and a jumper within a 40 second span to give Jackson State (11-13, 10-2, Southwestern Athletic Conference) a 60-55 lead with 4:13 remaining.

Texas Southern (2-22, 2-9), which trailed 31-19 at halftime, cut the deficit to 56-55 with 4:53 left to play.

Garrison Johnson added 13 points, Caldwell and Grant Maxey each chipped in 12, and Rod Melvin tallied 11 for Jackson State. The Tigers shot 70 percent from the free-throw line (24 of 34).

Texas Southern was paced by 12 points from Deandre Hall. Jacques Jones and Matthew Miller added 11 each.

Texas Southern, which lost its third straight and ninth of its last 11 games, committed 22 turnovers.

Texas-Arlington 84, UTSA 82

ARLINGTON (AP) — Marquez Haynes scored 27 points and hit the game-winning jumper with 4.4 seconds left to give Texas-Arlington an 84-82 victory against Texas-San Antonio on Saturday.

The Mavericks (13-10, 6-4 Southland) blew a five-point lead in just 14 seconds late in the game. Travis Gabbidon converted a three-point play with 24 seconds remaining, then hit two more free throws after a foul by Haynes with 10 seconds left.

Haynes also had seven rebounds to lead the Mavericks, who got 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from Anthony Vereen.

Gabbidon led the Roadrunners (15-8, 6-4) with 18 points, half of those coming on free throws. He led UTSA with seven rebounds, while Morris Smith had 16 points.