NORMAN, Okla., Sporting Alert – Buddy Hield made a clutch 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left in the game, and No. 3 Oklahoma rallied to a 63-60 win over No. 24 Texas on Monday night.
With the scores tied at 60 after Isaiah Taylor made a pair of free throws with less than one minute remaining, Hield connected with the go-ahead jumper from 3-point range to seal the win.
Hield, who scored the last 12 points for the Sooners (20-3, 8-3 Big 12), finished with 27 points, five rebounds and two steals for the home side which bounced back from the loss at Kansas State last Saturday.
The senior guard shook off a miserable first half where he scored six points and went 1 of 6 from the field to score 21 of his total points in the second half on 6 of 12 shooting.
“I had been struggling all night trying to get a shot off,” said Hield, who hit two of his 3-pointers in the closing part of the game.
“I finally made the last two, which is more important, so thank God for the win.”
With his 27 points on Big Monday, Hield moved passed Ryan Minor and climbed into sixth place on the school’s all-time list with 1,957 points.
Isaiah Cousins, who hit some big shots to keep Oklahoma in the game, added 17 points and six rebounds while Ryan Spangler grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for the Sooners, who trailed for most of the game.
Taylor scored 19 points to lead the way for Texas, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Kendal Yancy ended with a season-high 13 points, and also had six rebounds and three steals for the Longhorns (16-8, 7-4), who led 31-22 at halftime, but were outscored 41-29 in the second half.
Both teams shot 40 percent from the field, but the Sooners were +9 against the Longhorns from behind the arc and made eight more free throws than Texas, which had won seven of the last eight games.
After the game, Hield praised Texas coach Shaka Smart for the work he is doing, and the former VCU coach credited the star guard for the way he clinched the game for the hosts.
“He’s a terrific player,” Smart said. “Best player in the country. For most of the game, we did a really good job on him, considering how good a player he is.
“Down the stretch, he really was aggressive. He got to the foul line, and obviously, hit that big shot.”
Both teams return to action on Saturday, with Oklahoma hosting No. 7 Kansas in what is expected to be the game of the weekend, and Texas traveling to No. 14 Iowa State.
