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Sims leads No. 15 Texas past No. 16 Oklahoma

John E. Moore III / Getty Images Sport / Getty

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Jericho Sims matched season highs with 16 points and 12 rebounds to help No. 15 Texas beat No. 16 Oklahoma 69-65 on Thursday night.

Andrew Jones added 16 points for the Longhorns (16-7, 10-6 Big 12), who have won three of four.

Austin Reaves scored 16 points and Alondes Williams and Brady Manek each added 13 for the Sooners. Oklahoma (14-9, 9-8) has lost four straight games by a combined 17 points.

Oklahoma won the first meeting 80-79 in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 26, but the Longhorns were short-handed. Coach Shaka Smart announced he was out with COVID-19, and starters Sims and Courtney Ramey were unavailable that day.

In the rematch, Texas jumped to an early lead and kept the crowd mostly quiet during the first half. The Longhorns got loose on a fast break, and Jones' one-handed jam put Texas up 41-30.

Reaves banked in a deep 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to cut Texas' lead to 44-34.

Texas shot 61% in the first half. Jones had 12 points and Sims scored 10 for the Longhorns. The Sooners shot just 37% in the first half and made 6 of 17 3-pointers.

Oklahoma went on a 7-0 run early in the second half to cut Texas' lead to five.

Oklahoma center Kur Kuath's block sparked a fast break, and Reaves' putback cut the Texas lead to 53-50. A steal and layup by Elijah Harkless cut Texas' lead to one, and a two-handed jam on the fast break by De'Vion Harmon finally gave the Sooners the lead with just under eight minutes to play.

The game came down to the final minute. After Texas' Matt Coleman III drained a short jumper with 12 seconds left to put the Longhorns up four, Reaves got a quick layup with six seconds remaining. The Sooners fouled Greg Brown, and the freshman made two free throws with four seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

BIG PICTURE

Texas: The Longhorns are peaking at the right time. Their size and athletic ability caused problems for the Sooners, and those things could carry them far in the postseason.

Oklahoma: The offense got bogged down, and the Sooners shot just 37% in the game. They aren’t playing horrible basketball, they are just coming up a bit short.

UP NEXT

Texas visits TCU on Sunday.

Oklahoma will play in the Big 12 Tournament.

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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CliffBruntAP.

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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.

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