Local Teams

Timmy Allen scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds as No. 20 Texas outlasted reeling West Virginia 82-81 on Saturday afternoon in Big 12 Conference play in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The Longhorns (21-8, 10-6 Big 12) used a near-perfect first 20 minutes to forge a six-point lead at halftime, only to see West Virginia flip the script early in the second half. The Mountaineers were up 64-54 after a cutting layup by Taz Sherman with 10:31 to play, but Texas responded by reeling off an 18-7 run to go ahead 72-71 with 4:37 left.

Allen made two free throws and a pair of layups, and Marcus Carr got to the rim for back-to-back baskets to put the Longhorns up 82-78 with 1:10 remaining. West Virginia's Malik Curry converted a three-point play with 11 seconds left to pull the Mountaineers within a point. The Mountaineers forced a turnover and had a chance to win, but Curry missed a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left.

Carr finished with 15 points, and Jase Febres added a season-best 14 for the Longhorns, who shot 63.4 percent (26-for-41) from the field for the game.

Curry scored a career-high 27 points for West Virginia (14-15, 3-15), with Sherman adding 13 and Gabe Osabuohien contributing 12. The defeat was the Mountaineers' sixth straight and 13th in 14 games.

The Mountaineers were up by as many as five points in the early going before Texas used an 11-1 burst, capped by a steal and layup by Devin Askew, to take a 15-10 lead.

The Longhorns twice led by nine points in the half, the second after a 3-pointer by Andrew Jones with 4:22 remaining during a stretch that saw West Virginia go more than three minutes without a field goal.

Texas led 43-37 at the break after shooting 65.2 percent over the first 20 minutes, including 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) from beyond the 3-point line. Allen and Jones paced the Longhorns with nine points each.

Curry led all scorers with 13 points in the opening half. West Virginia stayed close thanks to a 12-8 edge from the free throw line and 24 points from its reserves.

--Field Level Media