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Brown lifts Texas to 71-65 win over No. 25 Iowa St

Sports

March 9th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Texas knows enough to rely on J’Covan Brown when the Longhorns need a basket. The Big 12’s leading scorer converted a go-ahead three-point play with 36.3 seconds left, and the Longhorns held on to beat No. 25 Iowa State 71-65 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Brown finished with 23 points for the Longhorns (20-12), who reached the 20-win plateau for the 13th consecutive season and likely removed themselves from the NCAA tournament bubble. Texas will face fifth-ranked Missouri in the semifinals Friday night.

Royce White had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Cyclones (22-10), and it was his turnaround bank shot with 51.6 seconds left that tied it 65. But after Brown was fouled on a spinning jumper and made the free throw, White lost control of the ball with 22.9 seconds left. It wound up in the hands of the Longhorns’ Jonathan Holmes, who made both free throws for a 70-65 lead. The Cyclones turned it over again on their next possession to seal the outcome.