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Augustin, Texas survive crazy finish to edge Baylor

Feb 17, 2008 - 5:26 AM WACO, Texas (Ticker) -- Although Texas coach Rick Barnes' success continued against Baylor, it did not happen without some twists.

D.J. Augustin shook off some of his team's free-throw struggles to make a pair with 12 seconds left as No. 11 Texas survived a wild finish with an 82-77 victory over Baylor in the Big 12 Conference on Saturday.

It was the 22nd straight win over the Bears under Barnes for the Longhorns (21-4, 8-2 Big 12), who hung on despite going 11-of-21 at the stripe.

"Baylor is a great team," said Augustin, who finished with eight points and 10 assists. "We knew it was going to be a tough game coming in. We need to win every road game that we get. This was a great win for us, and we give a lot of credit for Baylor."

Texas had started out 5-of-8 from the stripe and held a comfortable 76-62 lead following a layup by Justin Mason with 3:01 remaining.

However, Baylor reeled off the next 12 points, closing within 76-74 on a layup by Curtis Jerrells with 59 seconds to play.

"I give credit to two things - our players showed a lot of heart and a lot of character, and our fans gave us a chance to be in that situation," Baylor coach Scott Drew said of the late run.

"We haven't given up all year and I didn't expect us to give up. We had to start pressuring and try to create something else, and we were able to get some momentum after we made a couple of shots. They missed some free throws which gave us a chance."

The Longhorns missed the front end of three 1-and-1s in that span and committed a key turnover off an inbounds pass that enabled Henry Dugat to bury the second of consecutive 3-pointers that made it 76-72 with 1:18 left.

"At the end of the game, we didn't get it done from the free-throw line and we made it a lot harder than it had to be," Barnes said. "With the pressure that they applied and the turnovers that they forced, you have to give Baylor credit for that. Still, we found a way to get it done tonight in a Big 12 road game."

The sloppy play continued for Texas as A.J. Abrams fumbled an inbounds pass out of bounds with 58 seconds remaining. Baylor, however, could not take advantage as Jerrells was called for an offensive foul for using his off arm to fend away Augustin on a drive.

The Bears' leading scorer, Jerrells fouled out on the play, finishing with 11 points.

Abrams was fouled on the ensuing inbounds and split two free throws to make it 77-74.

Tweety Carter sliced Baylor's deficit to a point with a tough layup, and Texas committed another turnover when Abrams bounced the ball off the sideline trying to pass out of a double-team.

"I felt like I was in a bad dream and that anything that could go wrong was going wrong," Mason said. "Thankfully, that dreamed ended good for us."

Once again, Baylor could not take advantage, as Aaron Bruce called for a timeout on an inbounds play when the Bears did not have anymore remaining, leading to a technical foul.

Abrams again split two free throws for a 78-76 edge and, after LaceDarius Dunn missed a 3-pointer, Augustin made 1-of-2 from the stripe to make it 79-76 with 20 seconds left.

Dunn's miss was one of the Bears' best chances to pull ahead as Bruce, shaking off his poor decision with the timeout, drove and kicked out to set up the wide-open look.

"Where I was pleased with Aaron (Bruce) is that he made a mistake, but he didn't let that one mistake turn into two," Drew said. "He came back and made a great drive and dished off to LaceDarius (Dunn), who was our best shooter tonight by far. There's no one you'd rather have with a wide-open shot in that situation. I was proud that Aaron came back after that."

After Baylor got just one free throw from Carter, Augustin made two attempts to stretch the lead to 81-77 with 12 ticks to play.

Carter and Bruce then both missed on a shot from the arc, and Mason split two free throws in the final second to seal the wild win.

Damion James led the way for the Longhorns with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Abrams scored 13.

Mason and freshman Gary Johnson added 12 points apiece for Texas, which led by as many as 15 points early in the second half.

Dugat finished with 19 points for Baylor (17-7, 5-5), which went 8-of-31 on 3-pointers in losing its third straight game.

Dunn also had 19 points and Kevin Rogers added 12 and 14 rebounds for the Bears, who trailed in second-chance points (19-6) despite topping the Longhorns in offensive rebounds (17-14).

Baylor struggled real early, falling into a 12-4 hole in the first 5 1/2 minutes as it missed 13 of its first 15 shots.

"If I had the answer we would've changed it," Drew said. "I know they were good looks, and as long as we're getting good shots, our guys are good enough players that they're going to make them."

Overall, the Bears shot 24 percent (9-of-38) in the first half as they trailed, 34-28, at the break.