Texas beats No. 16 TCU in double OT after Andrew Jones’ leukemia diagnosis, moves Shaka Smart to tears

On the same day the program announced that starting point guard Andrew Jones has leukemia, the Texas Longhorns pulled off the most significant win of their 2017-18 season to date.

Texas got 22 bench points from junior guard Eric Davis Jr. and out-dueled No. 16 TCU 99-98 in double overtime Wednesday night in Austin. Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski chipped in 20 points and six boards.

It looked for a brief moment as though the emotional night might be met with a bitter end. On the final possession of the game, TCU point guard Jaylen Fisher drove unimpeded to the basket for what appeared to be an uncontested game-winning layup, but his attempt wound up falling harmlessly off the front rim.

The miss was immediately followed by an outpouring of emotion from the Texas players, who all wore “AJ1” patches and touched Jones’ jersey during the starting lineup announcements. It also drove head coach Shaka Smart to tears while the Texas fight song was being played.

Texas had lost 13 consecutive games against ranked opponents before their triumph over the Horned Frogs. UT improved to 11-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12, while TCU dropped to 13-3 overall and 1-3 in the league.

All of those things felt secondary on Wednesday night though.