Texas wins the Red River Rivalry

Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. -- A.J. Abrams scored 22 points and backcourt partner D.J. Augustin added 19 points and seven assists to lead No. 12 Texas to a 64-54 victory over rival Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

Augustin and Abrams pushed Texas to its first lead by scoring all of the Longhorns' points during a 10-0 surge midway through the second half. Abrams' jumper from the left wing put the Longhorns ahead 46-44 with 9:41 remaining, and he followed that with a 3-pointer from the left corner. Augustin added a 3 of his own to make it 52-44.

Blake Griffin scored the next five points to get Oklahoma -- playing without injured 6-foot-11 forward Longar Longar -- within three, but the rest of the Longhorns (18-4, 5-2 Big 12) started pitching in after that.

Justin Mason bracketed a pair of 3-pointers around Connor Atchley's putback, and Mason's two free throws in the final minute extended Texas' lead to its largest point at 62-51.

Griffin had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead Oklahoma (15-7, 3-4), which lost to its Red River rival for the fourth straight time. His brother, Taylor Griffin, added 12 points and 14 rebounds, David Godbold scored 12 points, and Tony Crocker added 11.

Mason ended up with 11 points for the Longhorns, who have overcome double-digit first-half deficits in their last two games.

Oklahoma led 15-5 after Crocker hit three quick 3-pointers, but the Longhorns slowly chipped away until Augustin's 3-pointer to start the second half got them within one.

Abrams' 3-pointer from the right wing evened the score at 37 with 14 minutes left. That started a span in which Abrams and Augustin scored the Longhorns' next 18 points, pushing them into the lead.

The Longhorns did little to exploit the absence of Longar on the defensive end. Atchley, Damion James and Gary Johnson combined to go 6-for-19 from the forward position, with James managing a season-low two points while coming off the bench for the second straight game.

Freshman Clint Chapman made his first career start in place of James, who lost his starting spot after a poor defensive effort in Texas' loss to Texas A&M two games ago, but he played only the first 4 1/2 minutes before sitting out the rest of the game.

The Sooners struggled to their third-lowest point total of the season without Longar, their second-leading scorer.