In what must be déjà vu at this point for Texas men’s basketball fans, junior forward Dailyn Swain scored a jumper to extend the lead to four with less than three minutes to play against South Carolina.
After a defensive stop and a rebound from junior forward Camden Heide, Swain found himself in the corner of the court.
Swain would take a few steps to his right before immediately breaking loose the other way for a backdoor cut that Heide noticed — releasing the ball into his direction for a wide-open dunk.
The score would give a six-point lead with 2:26 minutes left to play. It was enough of a cushion for Texas to hold on and beat South Carolina 84-75.
“It was a two-point game … and then in two back-to-back plays, we give up a one-on-one attack for a shot at the rim, and then we give up a backdoor dunk,” South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris said. “Two turns to six quickly, and six at that point just doesn’t look as appealing to young people as two does.”
Coming into the game, South Carolina was 2–7 in conference play, but Texas still faced a sluggish start — a familiar sight after the Longhorns faced the same problem against Oklahoma.
The first half ended with the Longhorns leading the Gamecocks by only four points, shooting 8-26 from the field.
Although Swain finished with a double-double — 22 points and 10 rebounds — it was more than just him and his clutch shots that pushed Texas to the finish line against South Carolina.
Heide, who assisted Swain on the wide-open dunk, scored two back-to-back threes for the Longhorns around the midway point of the second half.
Tied at the time of his first shot from range, Heide made a shot from the corner with just over 11 minutes left to play. He then proceeded to make another three from the other corner to give Texas a 56-50 lead, finishing the game with 12 points and five boards, while shooting at least 50% from both the field and three-point range.
“I’ve just been more aggressive (with) my shot. That’s something that helps, getting a rhythm the more that I shoot it,” Heide said. “I’m shooting a good percentage, but I think it starts in practice. … If I can be aggressive in practice, that’s going to translate to the game.”
Alongside Heide, graduate guard Tramon Mark also had clutch plays of his own. With 38 seconds left in the game, he sized up freshman forward EJ Walker, dribbling the ball between his hands to drain the shot clock.
As time ran out, Mark hit a crossover to his right, finding enough space to rise up and shoot a high-arching ball that fell through the net, raising Texas to a nine-point lead. The shot, much like Swain’s, killed any momentum the Gamecocks had at the time.
“It was great to see (Mark) step up and find his rhythm. We’re much more difficult to defend when he’s scoring as well,” head coach Sean Miller said. “And the other guy that’s just really playing well right now is (Heide). His ability to shoot the ball, his three-point shots when they went to the zone broke the game open.”
Texas returns to the Moody Center on Saturday to take on Ole Miss, with tip-off at 1:00 p.m.