Texas trailed Oklahoma by 22 points with only 7:38 remaining in the second half on Wednesday night, and it seemed more than safe to write the Longhorns off. Then, Oklahoma’s Amath M’Baye made a “horns down” symbol at the Longhorns fans. That may have changed the game around.
Texas went on to somehow chip away at the 22-point deficit and force overtime. They finished off the amazing comeback by beating the Sooners, but M’Baye said after the game that he doesn’t regret flashing the “horns down” sign.
“It’s just me,” M’Baye told reporters according to The Oklahoman. “I’m an energy guy. I get hyped. It’s just a sign. It’s a common sign between the two teams. You see it every day on TV. It’s not like I was trying to be disrespectful or anything like that.”
M’Baye’s teammate, senior Romero Osby, seemed to disagree. He clearly felt that it was a sign of disrespect, as he was seen yelling at M’Baye after he flashed the symbol. Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger apparently agreed, and he replaced M’Baye with junior Tyler Neal after the gesture.
“We just don’t do that,” Kruger said, adding that he has spoken to M’Baye. “And he knows that. It was just kind of an emotional moment. We don’t do those things in terms of relating to the crowd. We play each position by focusing between the lines. That’s the only thing we addressed is, ‘Don’t interact with the crowd.’”
No lead is safe in college basketball, and M’Baye should have learned that on Wednesday. The old expression “you don’t wake a sleeping dog” holds true in a surprising amount of situations. The last thing you want to do for a team that you have in a 22-point hole is give them a reason to fight their way back.
