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Greg Brown has arrived...

An early pick for biggest disappointment of the season: thousands of Longhorn fans didn’t get to experience Greg Brown’s arrival at the Erwin Center. Behind Brown’s 24 points (7-of-14 from the floor; 3-of-7 from three-point range; 7-of-11 at the free throw line), 14 rebounds, and three vicious blocks, the No. 11 Longhorns (7-1, 1-0) held off Oklahoma State (6-2, 0-2) and won, 77-74. Here are 10 postgame thoughts:

1) Down the stretch, Brown was a force as a help-side defender, which included a volleyball spike of one layup and on the next possession he came flying from out of the picture to block another that was called goaltending. It was the type of sequence, during the final moments of a tight game, that would have caused a deafening crowd eruption, and it helped keep his team’s mental state in an aggressive and confident one as opposed to a nervy one.

And while Texas needed all his 24 points, it probably needed his rebounding more. During the final 1:24 of the game, the five-star freshman grabbed three crucial defensive rebounds and competed like a grown man inside the paint. He refused to be denied and used his elite athleticism to rise above the crowd to aggressively secure OSU misses.

“I take a lot of pride in my rebounding,” said Brown with a grin. “As Kawhi (Leonard) said, board man gets paid. So, I just gotta get those boards and help my team win.”

As his head coach said after the game, this is the best Brown has played this season. The game is slowing down for him on offense, and his competitiveness on the glass and awareness on defense are showing. Shaka Smart said there’s only one other guy he’s coached that can go and grab rebounds like the way Brown does – Mo Bamba.

2) Guess who ignited a 17-0 run in the second half? That would be Brown. The freshman made back-to-back threes, the second he admitted was a heat check, to put Texas in front 47-42 and force OSU to use a timeout. Following his second make, Brown joyously used some high-knee dance moves to reach half-court until he was met at mid-court by a Courtney Ramey chest bump, which sent the smaller guard tumbling to the floor. Again, it’s a shame fans didn’t get to pump sound and energy into the Brown experience because that second three would have brought the house down. He almost shot it from the Texas bench, and nailed it even with a hand in his face.

After the timeout, Brown grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. The Texas run continued with Andrew Jones making a deep, pull-up three that received a friendly bounce off the rim. He’s been due for a couple of those. Finally, after another timeout, Oklahoma State stopped the 17-0 run when Cade Cunningham knocked down a deep three.

3) The 17-0 run was the result of a much better mental approach from the Longhorns coming out of the locker room. They flew around on defense, which fueled their confidence on offense; and when they did miss shots on offense, they aggressively attacked the glass with their length and athleticism...

READ THE REST OF OUR POSTGAME COLUMN AND DISCUSS TEXAS BASKETBALL INSIDE THE 40 ACRES (PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS)

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