Tramon Mark scored 24 points, including two key late free throws, as Texas outlasted No. 25 Mississippi State 87-82 in overtime on Tuesday in a Southeastern Conference game in Starkville, Miss.
The Longhorns (17-13, 6-11 SEC), playing in a near do-or-die game, led by five points at halftime and by nine after a free throw by Kadin Shedrick with 3:52 to play. Mississippi State (20-10, 8-9) rallied to tie the game when Riley Kugel scored on a driving layup with nine seconds left.
Texas never trailed in overtime, going up 80-75 with 2:29 to play. The teams traded baskets at the rim before a three-point play by Kugel with 38.4 seconds left tied the game at 82-82. Shedrick made one of two free throws with 32 seconds left to put the Longhorns up by a point, and Kugel followed with two huge misses from the charity stripe six seconds later.
Mark produced two free throws with 20.8 seconds remaining to expand the lead to 85-82. The Bulldogs’ Josh Hubbard rimmed out a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, and Arthur Kaluma grabbed the rebound before finishing off the win with two free throws.
Tre Johnson scored 23 points for Texas. Kaluma finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds and Shedrick added 10 points as the Longhorns snapped a three-game losing streak.
Hubbard led Mississippi State with 16 points, all after halftime. RJ Melendez added 15, KeShawn Murphy had 13, Kugel and Cameron Matthews scored 12 each and Shawn Jones Jr. hit for 10 points.
Mississippi State went up 30-24 when Melendez canned a jumper and then a 3-pointer, the latter with 4:38 left before halftime. Texas responded by outscoring the Bulldogs 13-2 through the rest of the half. Kent’s tip-in layup with 10 seconds left gave the Longhorns a 37-32 lead at the break.
Melendez led all scorers before halftime with 11 points. Johnson paced Texas with 10 points.
The Longhorns stayed on the accelerator early in the second half, expanding the margin to eight points when Shedrick hammered home a dunk with 15:51 to play. After a pair of free throws by Kugel, Johnson poured in a 3-pointer and Jordan Pope got in the lane for a scoop layup that put Texas up 51-40.
–Field Level Media
