Embattled Texas men bounce Rice in overtime: 'At the end of the day, we have a job to do'

Just when it appeared that a difficult day would become even worse, the Longhorns found a small measure of relief Monday night.

With their head coach suspended and their associate head coach running the team, the No. 7-ranked Longhorns got 22 of Marcus Carr's season-best 28 points in the second half and overtime and help came from all directions in Texas' 87-81 win in front of 10,763 at Moody Center.

Head coach Chris Beard was suspended less than two hours before Monday night's tipoff after an early-morning arrest on charges of assault on a family member. He was released in the afternoon after posting a $10,000 bond and the university announced about 90 minutes before tipoff that the second-year Longhorns coach would be suspended without pay "until further notice."

Associate head coach Rodney Terry, in his second stop as a Longhorns assistant after head coaching stints at Fresno State and UTEP, was named Texas' acting head coach for Monday night's game. Terry declined to comment on Beard's arrest and no players were made available to media after the game.

“I love Beard like my own brother,” Terry said afterward. “I don’t have the privilege of being able to talk about a lot of things. I’m here to talk about basketball.”

Terry said he had met earlier in the day with seven of the team's veteran players. Texas jumped to a 6-0 start this season and was ranked No. 2 before last week's first loss to Illinois in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Longhorns (8-1) bounced back last Saturday in an 88-43 rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff but dropped to seventh in Monday's poll.

“I had a really good talk with those guys in terms of there are going to be things like this the rest of your life,” Terry said. “It’s how you deal with them right now, adapt and adjust. At the end of the day, we have a job to do.”

They didn’t do it very well for much of the night. Open Rice shooters converted 9-of-28 3-point attempts. Quincy Olivari made four of them and scored 28 points. Travis Evee added 19. The Owls (6-3) repeatedly cut to the basket for back-door layups.

Two free throws by Olivari with 1:32 remaining in regulation created a 72-72 tie. Carr then missed the front end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line and two jump shots. Rice’s Alem Huseinovic missed a jumper at the buzzer.

Carr redeemed himself in overtime with eight points and an assist on a layup by Jabari Rice, who scored seven in the extra period.

Brock Cunningham had a big game for Texas, producing a season-high 10 rebounds, including five on offense, his specialty. Timmy Allen scored 15 and freshman Dillon Mitchell had a nice all-around game with 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

“I’m really proud of our kids,” Rice coach Scott Pera said. “Rice believed we could win. But credit to Texas. They played better down the stretch and in overtime.”

Beard, 49, is in his second season with the Longhorns, who hired him in 2021 from Texas Tech. He received a seven-year contract with an annual salary of $5 million. He led Tech to the 2019 NCAA championship game.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas men's basketball grits out overtime win with coach suspended