Hunter's huge night propels Texas by OU in Big 12 finale 94-80

AUSTIN (KXAN) — While both Texas and Oklahoma will move to the Southeastern Conference next season, the Longhorns can always say they beat the Sooners in Big 12 play one last time.

Texas used a big second half to run away with a 94-80 win Saturday at Moody Center, giving the Longhorns their 20th win of the season and an even 9-9 conference mark heading into next week's conference tournament.

Leading by five points at halftime 40-35, Texas began the second half with an 8-0 run and outscored the Sooners 18-5 in the first five minutes. In that span, junior point guard Tyrese Hunter had 10 points on his way to a career-high 30 on 9 of 13 shooting to go with seven assists. Hunter scored 22 in the second half.

"We didn't get stops in the second half," Sooners head coach Porter Moser said. "They made us pay with the turnovers, and when Tyrese (Hunter) has that confidence, that's a different team."

Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry said with the way the Big 12 has been, they've been playing March-level basketball from an intensity standpoint since January. When Hunter gets his offense going, Texas will be a tough out in the postseason.

"This time of year you have the embrace the March mentality, and I thought Tyrese came out with the right approach," Terry said. "It's always great to have that third guy emerging, and he played great this time last year."

The Longhorns had their lead up to 21 points midway through the second half, but the Sooners showed some fight to go on an 8-0 run to close the gap. Texas stretched its lead out to 15 on a Max Abmas 3-pointer with 3:13 remaining and cruised to the win from there.

"It's March now, you gotta survive and advance," Hunter said. "I get my energy and confidence from my defense, and everything is going to flow on offense."

Texas scored 21 points off of 14 Oklahoma turnovers and dominated the paint, outscoring the Sooners 50-34 with a 25-8 advantage in fastbreak points as well.

"We were trying to guard hard, and once we secured a rebound, we wanted to get out and run," Terry said. "The hardest thing to do in this league is to go 5-on-5 in the halfcourt with teams, so we wanted to try to get out and get some easy buckets."

Texas (20-11, 9-9 Big 12) shot 64% from the field, making 33 of 52 attempts including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. The Longhorns sizzled from the foul line, making 22 of 23 free throws. Dylan Disu had 16 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes while Dillon Mitchell chipped in 14 points and Max Abmas had 11. Texas scored on 44 of its 65 possessions and never trailed.

For the Sooners, Rivaldo Soares scored 21 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Oklahoma shot 47% from the field and took 28 shots from 3-point range, making 10.

The Longhorns will begin Big 12 tournament play Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri against an opponent to be determined after all conference games are finished Saturday. It's possible they could meet Oklahoma again depending on how the other games finish.