Austin, Texas ? Texas forward P.J. Tucker and his teammates came alive just in time to escape upset-minded UNLV.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Tucker was too much for the Runnin’ Rebels to handle late in the 15th-ranked Longhorns’ 89-82 victory Sunday night.

Tucker finished with 25 points, 14 in the second half, and 10 rebounds to help offset UNLV’s hot three-point shooting.

“P.J. Tucker is the kind of player that’s going to fight and claw every possession,” first-year UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. “He does everything he can to make his team better.”

Texas (10-2) finally shook off pesky UNLV (6-5) late in the second half. The Longhorns trailed 67-65 with 5:50 to play after UNLV guard Michael Umeh nailed a three-pointer from the left wing, one of seven the Runnin’ Rebels made in the half. But Texas went on a 12-1 run to take control.

Tucker’s three-point play followed by his powerful defensive rebound and no-look pass to LaMarcus Aldridge for a layup gave the Longhorns a 72-67 lead with 4:20 left. After Brad Buckman hit two free throws for Texas, Daniel Gibson passed to Jason Klotz for a fast-break layup to give the Longhorns a 77-68 lead with 2:01 to play.

Romel Beck and Jerel Blassingame each had 17 points for UNLV.

UNLV trailed 48-40 early in the second half, but two three-pointers by Blassingame and another shot from behind the arc by Beck within a 90-second span helped the Runnin’ Rebels go on a 10-0 run to grab a 50-48 lead with 13:30 to play.

Beck hit consecutive three-pointers to give UNLV an 18-13 lead, its largest of the first half.

Tucker then started to take over inside, scoring 11 points, and Kenny Taylor hit a three-pointer from the right wing to help the Longhorns end the half on a 15-7 run and take a 40-34 lead.

Texas A&M 62,

Penn State 60

State College, Pa. — Acie Law hit two free throws with 11.4 seconds left to lead Texas A&M past Penn State.

Law and Antoine Wright each scored 19 points to pace the Aggies (11-0), who trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half.

The Aggies’ defense held the Nittany Lions (6-7) to just three points over the final 5:37.

Texas A&M also caused 16 turnovers, 10 in the second half, while Penn State missed eight of its last 11 free throws.

Nebraska 78,

Montana State 45

Lincoln, Neb. — Joe McCray scored 19 points to lead Nebraska past Montana State. McCray was one of four Nebraska players to score in double figures as Nebraska opened up a double-digit lead early and rolled over Montana State in the second half.

Nebraska (6-4) used a 17-5 run to take a 27-12 lead on McCray’s layup with 7:59 remaining in the first half. But Montana State (5-8) countered with nine straight, cutting the Husker lead to 27-21 on Ryan Holmes’ basket with 5:10 left.

Nebraska closed the half on a 6-2 run, then opened the second with a 13-2 spurt.

Joining McCray in double figures for Nebraska were John Turek with 15, Wes Wilkinson with 13 and Marcus Neal Jr. with 11.

Oklahoma 94,

Texas Pan American 54

Norman, Okla. — Taj Gray and Lawrence McKenzie combined for 39 points to help Oklahoma race past Texas-Pan American.

Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson emptied his bench in the second half as the Sooners (10-2) shot 55 percent from the field and forced 23 turnovers.

Gray led all scorers with 21 points and all rebounders with 12 boards in 28 minutes.