Texas basketball rallies from deficit, but falls flat in overtime loss to No. 4 Houston

Texas proved it can hang with one of the nation’s elite teams in a 76-72 overtime loss to No. 4 Houston Monday at Moody Center.

Now, the Longhorns just need to prove they can claw out enough wins in the brutal Big 12 to remain a contender in the nation’s deepest conference.

After a wild second half that featured a series of runs by both teams, Houston’s defense finally regained control of the contest by holding Texas to one field goal on six shots in overtime.

Max Abmas shook off a slow start to score a team-high 20 points for Texas, and Dillon Mitchell notched his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Houston’s Jamal Shead, an Austin native and Manor graduate playing in his first collegiate game in his hometown, led all players with 25 points.

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Houston (19-2, 5-2 Big 12) seemed to unleash its flypaper man-to-man defense on Texas (14-7, 3-5) as soon as the Longhorns came out of the tunnel for warmups. The Longhorns made just 35.5% of their shots while falling behind 33-25 at halftime. Abmas and Dylan Disu, who have combined for more than 33 points a game this season, had just seven combined points at the break.

But Disu, Abmas and the entire team heated up in the second half. Mitchell went on a one-man scoring run with six straight points to give Texas a 48-46 lead with 10:26 left, and the teams then exchanged the lead several times in the taut final minutes.

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Overall, Texas shot 43.3% against the Big 12’s stingiest defense while scoring the most points that Houston has given up all season.

Eight Big 12 teams were ranked in Monday’s Associated Press poll. That group includes No. 25 TCU, which hosts the  Longhorns in Texas’ next game Saturday.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Houston basketball holds off Texas in overtime for road win