The Texas Longhorns won a complicated game against a very strong Pittsburg 78-62 but the game ended on a sour note: starting guard Varez Ward injured his right knee even before the game started. The event, the championship round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Tuesday night in Kansas City, ended Pittsburgh's season-long winning streak.

Ward was warming up before the game started and was removed from the court with an apparent knee injury. J'Covan Brown took Ward's place, leading the team to 12 points in a good start, the first for him this season with the Longhorns.

Damion James was Texas' shooting star, addint 20 points and 9 rebounds for a superb performance. His teammates did just as well; Texas hit 6 long distance shot, the second best number of the season, with more than 50 percent from the field for the fourth time this year.

Pittsburgh led the first half of the game, 34-32, with the players exiting the court at halftime with smiles. The team dominated much of the first half before Texas began to struggle at the close of the second, trying to equalize the score.

Texas maintained its cool in the second half and, with solid skill, was able to snatch the lead after two free throws by Gary Johnson.

The lead seemed to fill the Longhorns with a renewed vigor. Their fight was fueled by James' three-point play and Jordan Hamilton's 3-pointer. With 7:27 left on the clock, Justin Mason brought the Longhorns to a 63-54 lead - the team's biggest gap in the game.

"It just came down to execution and they executed better in the second half than we did," said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon. "They got better shots than we did, that's the bottom line. The percentages indicate that. They shoot 65 percent in the second half, we shoot 37 percent."

Pittsburgh was led by Brad Wanamaker and Gary McGhee with 13 and 11 points, respectively - hardly the best game of the season.

On Wednesday, Ward was examined by doctors, who said that he had ruptured his quadriceps tendon and will be out of the game for the rest of the season. He will be submitted to surgery, but recovery is likely to be slow.

"We all feel for Varez. Everyone within our program understands how much time and hard work Varez has put in, and he has been the most improved player on our team from the end of last season," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "He means a lot to this program. There is one thing for certain, he will be back."

In three games this season Ward had an average of 6.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game and led the team in steals with seven.