Texas showed it is peaking at the right time when it traveled to rival Oklahoma on Tuesday and left with a last-second victory that will help its case for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns looked doomed when Matt Coleman III missed a potential game-tying jumper with eight seconds left. But after Oklahoma's Kristian Doolittle missed two free throws, Coleman got a shot at redemption.

The junior guard took advantage of it by banking in an off-balance 3-pointer with less than a second remaining to lift Texas to a 52-51 victory, its fifth consecutive win after it slipped four games below .500 in Big 12 play in mid-February.

Texas (19-11, 9-8 Big 12) entered the game as one of the last four in the NCAA Tournament field, according to CBS Sports expert Jerry Palm. Oklahoma (18-12, 8-9) entered projected as a No. 8 seed by Palm. 

The loss is not expected to knock the Sooners out of the projected NCAA Tournament field, according to Palm. But it will certainly sting an Oklahoma team that entered with back-to-back wins over quality opponents Texas Tech and West Virginia. The ending was especially cruel, considering it was Doolittle's senior night and he is a career 78% free-throw shooter.

For Texas, the last-second win could have implications extending beyond the moment. Fifth-year coach Shaka Smart's tenure appeared to be trending in a dire direction less than a month ago. But after a fifth straight win -- and a rivalry victory at that -- the Longhorns still have a good shot at going to the Big Dance for a third time under Smart.