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Augustin, Abrams power Texas past pesky Iowa State

Feb 10, 2008 - 1:16 AM AMES, Iowa (Ticker) -- Iowa State knew stopping Texas' dynamic backcourt duo of D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams was important. Like many of the Longhorns' opponents, the Cyclones could not keep them both down all game.

Abrams scored 25 points and Augustin added 17 to power No. 12 Texas to a 71-65 road victory over Iowa State in Big 12 Conference action Saturday.

Augustin entered the game second in the conference in scoring at 19.8 points per game and Abrams was third at 17.5. However, it wasn't until late that Augustin joined his backcourt mate in dominating Iowa State.

"We saw how good Texas is," Cyclones coach Greg McDermott said. "Those guards are terrific. We did a good job on (D.J.) Augustin. He's 4-for-20 and hits the shot to go into overtime. (A.J.) Abrams was a handful. There were times when I thought he was well-guarded, and he still got the shot off."

The Longhorns (19-4, 6-2 Big 12), who had not held the lead since the 11:11 mark of the first half, overcame a 13-point deficit late in the second half thanks to the strength of their backcourt standouts.

With Texas trailing, 42-29, after a pair of free throws from Jiri Hubalek with 16:14 remaining, Abrams scored 16 of the Longhorns' next 33 points to push the contest into overtime at 62-62. Included in that was a pair of free throws with 59 seconds left that gave Texas its first lead since midway through the first half, 62-60.

"I tried my best not to let (A.J. Abrams) get the ball, but I didn't do so well at that," Cyclones forward Rahshon Clark said. "He's a good player and he's going to go far in his career. Bottom line is I didn't do a good job of keeping him from getting the ball."

Hubalek then converted a pair at the stripe with 39 seconds to play to knot the score.

It wasn't until overtime that Augustin, who was just 5-of-22 from the field for the contest, was able to knock down a shot that his team really needed. His jumper with 43 seconds left - only the second shot made in overtime by either team at that point - gave Texas a 66-62 advantage.

"You're going to miss shots, that's part of the game," Augustin said. "You have to forget about it. You just have to keep playing. You have to keep being aggressive. A.J., he's aggressive no matter what. I have to play with that mentality as well."

However, Augustin did atone for his poor shooting with a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the foul line, including two free throws with 20 seconds remaining in overtime that gave the Longhorns an insurmountable 69-62 lead.

While Augustin was unable to find his stroke for most of the contest, Texas stepped up its effort on defense especially in the extra session, allowing a single 3-pointer from Diante Garrett.

Damion James had nine points and 14 rebounds for Texas, which has won six of its last seven conference contests after dropping its Big 12 opener to Missouri.

Hubalek had 24 points and nine rebounds for Iowa State (13-11, 3-6), which has dropped three straight games and lost nine consecutive games to ranked opponents.

"A loss is a loss," Hubalek said. "We might have been close, but we didn't get it done. There is a lot to be disappointed about. We played good ball at times, but we didn't get it done. We got some good looks, but just didn't make the shots."