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Andrew Jones got a standing ovation when he hit a free throw in the second half of Texas' opener Tuesday night, his first point at a Longhorn since being diagnosed with leukemia last January.
Jones was not even sure if he would play this season, but the junior guarded with 11 minutes, 40 seconds left in the second half and brought the crowd to its feet. And even though he was also recovering from a broken toe, Jones was getting loose, scrapping for a loose ball, then drawing a foul in Texas' 71-59 season-opening win over Eastern Illinois.
"It's great to see Andrew out on the court," Texas coach Shaka Smart said. "I loved the way the crowd and everyone in the building reacted to him going into the game."
Jones, who was not made available to the media after the game, had one point, one rebound and one assist in nine minutes of action.
A few months ago, Jones was leading the Longhorns in scoring at 13.5 points per game when he began to complain about extreme fatigue. Soon after a road game against Iowa State on Jan. 1, he received the leukemia diagnosis. Jones did not play another game for Texas during the 2017-18 season.
Instead, he moved to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to begin treatment. He was released from the hospital in late February and completed outpatient treatment in August.
He joined the team in September, but then broke into his last month.
Jones is set for another round of treatment for leukemia in December.
"Only the strong survive, and that's been something that," Jones told reporters last week. "It's a choice that if you want to just go on and fight against adversity, or you just want to do it. it, but anything is possible Through the grace of God, anything is possible. "
Jones averaged 11.4 points per game as a freshman and declared for the NBA draft following Longhorns but later withdrew his name and returned to school. He was a McDonald's All-American as a recruiter out of Irving, Texas.
"He treated it humbly, he wants to be treated like one of us." Texas guard Matt Coleman said of Jones' return.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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