Texas gave a valiant effort against the Houston Cougars on Monday night. Like too many times in the young season, the Longhorns came up just short.
Houston built a sizable lead early on in the game. The Cougars led by as many as 12 points in the first half and held a 41-30 lead early in the second half before the Longhorns battled their way back into the game.
After falling behind by 11 points with over 18 minutes left in the second half, Texas stormed back building as much as a 54-48 lead. Houston answered back with a 9-0 run taking a lead of its own.
The Longhorns fought to the end taking the game to overtime. The Cougars outlasted them.
The recurring theme of the game for Texas was consistently falling just short of success. On too many defensive possessions, the Longhorns allowed offensive rebounds and second opportunities. On too many offensive possessions, the team settled for bad shots that missed.
In the grand scheme of the season, the Houston game isn’t going to be what prevents Texas from reaching its goals. Nevertheless, early losses to West Virginia and UCF made this game of added importance. The Longhorns simply couldn’t get it done.
Point guard and top scorer Max Abmas led Texas with 20 points on the game. Starting forward Dillon Mitchell added 16 points followed by fellow forward Dylan Disu’s 14-point game.
The Longhorns will next travel to Fort Worth to face No. 25 TCU. They fall to 14-7 on the season.