Prior to taking the court last night, an emotional group of Longhorns weren't concerned about how many minutes they would each log on the floor against T-C-U, "49 mins, 55 mins..it didn't matter", said Texas forward, Dylan Osetkowski.
24 hours prior to last night's tip off, Shaka Smart and his staff notified the team their brother and teammate Andrew Jones was in a fight for his life, battling Leukemia. "We not only had guys who were in tears they were whaling. When the coaches left the room, the players said we have to win this game for Andrew", said Smart.
That they did. Texas beat 16th ranked Texas Christian University. The signature win of this season for the Longhorns. Osetkowsi said it was a roller coaster of emotions last night, "I think everyone left everything on the line tonight..for one reason... big win for us".
An emotional double overtime win which TCU could've won, but missed a layup at the buzzer.
Even Shaka Smart admitted when TCU's gimme lay up didn't drop that another power was in the building. And they all knew that power was probably Andrew Jones.
Smart said, "obviously that was the difference in the game".
But, the difference was channeling their emotions towards winning for AJ.
"We were just trying to play for someone who can't right now", said UT forward Jericho Smith.
Elation and raw emotion afterwards on a night the Longhorns played for something much greater.
"I could feel an energy from our crowd because of Andrew that I could not feel before.They were a big part of that..I appreciate that", said Shaka Smart.
A win for Andrew Jones as he began treatment to beat Leukemia.