Three years to the day of being diagnosed with leukemia, Texas guard Andrew Jones made a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to give the No. 4 Longhorns’ a 72-70 win over No. 14 West Virginia.
Down by one in the final minute, Texas allowed West Virginia to grab two offensive rebounds and sent Emmitt Matthews to the free throw line with 10 seconds left. Matthews proceeded to miss both free throws.
Texas coach Shaka Smart elected not to call a timeout to set up a play and guard Courtney Ramey drove to the lane, drew multiple West Virginia defenders and kicked it out to Jones, who was open in the right corner. Jones buried the jumper.
Jones, who also scored his 1000th point during the game, finished with 16 points, three rebounds and made four 3-pointers.
Jones was diagnosed with leukemia in January 2018 and was released from the hospital more than a month later. He completed chemotherapy treatment in August 2018. He returned for two games in November at the start of the 2018-19 season but began another round of treatment a month later.
After missing the better part of two seasons, Jones had 20 points in Texas’ opener last season and went on to play all 31 games. He missed this season’s opener, but has played in all 10 games since, helping Texas to its 10-1 start.
Jones is averaging 13.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists this season.