On this exact day three years ago, Shaka Smart told his team Andrew Jones had Leukemia. So, it’s fitting Jones stepped into a wide-open corner three and drilled the game-winner with 1.8 seconds left. Smart labeled this a “response game,” and that’s exactly what it was.

The No. 4 Longhorns (10-1, 4-0) didn’t play great and had a lot of things working against them they could have gotten down about. But they refused to lose, and found a way, thanks to Courtney Ramey and Jones's heroics, to win at No. 14 West Virginia, 72-70.

Here are 10 postgame thoughts:

1) On a day when Matt Coleman was productive but a step off, something Smart agreed with during the postgame, Courtney Ramey needed to step up with playmaking and leading. And on a day when the Longhorns couldn’t buy a three-point bucket, Jones, who scored 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting (4-of-7 from beyond the arc), was the only player capable of stepping into and drilling triples. Literally. He was the only player who made a three all game. Oh, he also surpassed 1,000 career points at Texas today.

Of course, it would be those two making the play to win the game. The Longhorns looked like they’d let a final chance to win the game slip away when they failed to grab a defensive rebound two-straight times. Trailing 70-69, Texas fouled Emmitt Matthews, who was 26-of-29 at the free throw line before he stepped to the line, with just under 11 seconds left after he secured a rebound near the paint and tried to score. Matthews then missed both free throws.

With a timeout remaining, Smart wisely elected to all his guards to attack a defense that wasn’t set. Consistently throughout the game, West Virginia had issues getting set on defense after misses. And it also had issues keeping Ramey out of the paint. The junior point guard aggressively attacked the paint, and attracted the entire West Virginia (9-4, 2-3) defense with around five seconds left.

“I feel like throughout the whole game it was either me attack or look for the opposite pass. My read when I got past my defender was the low man, and if he didn't step over, I had a layup. And he stepped over,” said Ramey about his final pass. “I knew Andrew was in the corner, and I believe in him with all my might to make the shot. I just had to put it on money for him and he made the shot.”

Intelligently and instinctively, he fired a perfect pass out to a wide-open Jones, who was set, stepped into the shot confidently, and drained the three.

“Courtney drew defensive help, and then he found me on the backside, and I was ready to shoot,” described Jones. “He was going to make it (the pass), and I was ready to shoot the ball. It felt good right when I caught it. Had a lot of space and daylight. So, I stepped in and knocked it down.”2) After a timeout was called, Jones celebrated in a way that would make Sam Cassell and Pedro Cerrano proud. Yeah, it takes some big ones to step into that shot like he was back in the practice gym. Also, it takes some big ones to leave West Virginia with a road win considering Texas could have easily folded.

With 13:49 remaining, Texas trailed West Virginia by nine, looked sluggish on defense, and Smart was wearing out the officials. Coming out of a Texas timeout, the road team quickly cut the WVU lead to five with improved rebounding, defense and an aggressive Ramey getting to the rim.

From that point, the Longhorns refused to go away, and kept hanging around in striking distance. With 9:44 remaining they were dealt another blow when Jericho Sims picked up his fourth foul on a moving screen. Again, they responded. Kai Jones elevated his aggressiveness and toughness with Sims on the bench. After swatting Derek Culver, Jones sprinted up the floor and beat everyone, which allowed his teammate also named Jones to find him with a baseball pass for a layup. Andrew Jones then stole the ball the next trip down, and Greg Brown drilled a mid-range jumper to tie the game with 9:17 left.

Even when WVU’s Sean McNeil hit a deep three against perfect defense by Brock Cunningham, the Longhorns weren’t deflated. In the past, that might be enough to break a mentally weak team. These Longhorns are not that. West Virginia pushed the lead back to five, but Texas kept getting into the paint for buckets as Coleman came alive.

“I told the guys in the locker room after this is a ‘response game,” said Smart. “We talk all the time about response being your ability to focus on the next most important thing. And they hung in there and did a good job of that today.”

All the Longhorns needed was a stop and a break to get a chance. They did, and they capitalized.

3) Again, Coleman, who scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting (0-of-4 from three-point range and 3-of-3 at the free throw line) with two rebounds, two assists, and four turnovers, was a step off today. He didn’t play poorly. But he wasn’t the Coleman we’ve seen in every other game this season.

Much of the on-court presence and leadership then shifted to Ramey, who was happy to provide it with help from Jones. At times, Ramey was seen barking at teammates, and Texas had more heated on-court confrontations today than any other game this season.

“Courtney had an assertiveness about him. I don't know if you saw but I mean, we had some situations on the court where we had some guys kind of confronting each other,” Smart said. “He led the way with that like he normally does. And that was necessary because in the first half we weren't defending the way we needed to.”

When a team has the comfort and confidence to talk to each other on the court like Texas did today and is determined to hold each other accountable, special things can happen. And Ramey wasn’t going to be denied. I think he was the best player on the floor, and he carried himself like he was tougher, more determined, and better than his opposition...

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