Austin, Texas — Eager to get revenge for a loss in Lawrence that flipped the Big 12 race in KU’s favor four weeks ago, No. 9 Texas forced 3rd-ranked Kansas into one of its worst outings of the season in a 75-59 Longhorns victory at Moody Center.
The Jayhawks still left Austin as the Big 12 regular season champs. That much was decided days before tipoff. But it was the Longhorns who celebrated on Saturday.
“I think Texas was turned up, and, defensively, they made us play out of our comfort zone,” Kansas coach Bill Self after watching his team shoot 36% for the game. “We got what we deserved today.”
For about three minutes of Saturday’s top-10 showdown, things went about as well as they could’ve for the Jayhawks.
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Box score: Texas 75, Kansas 59
Photo Gallery: Kansas basketball at Texas
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Kansas scored on its opening possession to take a 2-0 lead — off of a bucket from Austin native KJ Adams, no less — and held that lead until the Longhorns got on the board on a bucket by Timmy Allen at 2:49 into the game.
No one could have known then that the Jayhawks (25-6 overall, 13-5 Big 12) would never lead again, but that was exactly the way things played out. The Longhorns (23-8, 12-6) jumped in front with a 9-0 run and never looked back, taking a 32-24 lead into halftime and leading by as many as 17 points before the final horn sounded.
So many things that bothered Kansas on Saturday were the direct result of Texas’ effort and intensity. KU freshman Gradey Dick, who hit the Longhorns for 21 points in the win in Lawrence, struggled to get open and find shots and finished with six points on 2-of-5 shooting.
Kansas turned it over just 11 times but the first three or four of those giveaways led directly to UT baskets. After each one, whether it was a lob in transition or a 3-pointer in the half-court offense, the Moody Center crowd roared louder and Kansas’ hole grew larger.
The Jayhawks insisted all week that they would not head to Austin with a nothing-to-gain attitude. But Self said his team’s effort did not illustrate that.
“I didn’t think we matched it at all,” he said. “I think guys had good intentions and all that stuff. But, a lot of times you can tell a little bit about a group when they get punched in the mouth and taste their own blood and how they react to that. I don’t think we reacted as well in this scenario as we have in maybe some other ones.”
If ever there were a play that illustrated how the first half went for Kansas, it came with just over 10 minutes remaining and led to the Longhorns’ first 3-point make of the day after misses on their first seven attempts.
After great defense by Kevin McCullar Jr. shut down Allen’s drive to the basket, the UT forward dished a bounce pass to Christian Bishop, who immediately attacked the rim for a dunk. Adams, who helped double Allen, recovered and got a piece of the dunk attempt, but the ball bounced right to Arterio Morris behind the 3-point line in front of the KU bench and the UT freshman buried the long jumper to put Texas up 17-9 with 9:59 to play in the half.
KU cut the Texas lead to as little as six or seven on a few possessions in the second half, but never put any real pressure on the home team.
“They got up and down on us and they just punched us in the mouth to start the game,” said Kansas point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. “We kind of responded a little bit, but it wasn’t enough. They were hyped, they made shots, they got to the free throw line, so…”
Both KU junior Jalen Wilson and McCullar said the fact that the Big 12 race was already over before Saturday arrived had no bearing on how the Jayhawks’ prepared or played.
“None at all,” McCullar said. “It was another Big 12 game. We wanted to come out and win it. We just came out a little flat.”
Added Wilson: “We’re playing for a lot too, trying to get the No. 1 overall seed. Today just wasn’t all of our days.”
Wilson led the Jayhawks with 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting. He also added 10 rebounds, giving him his 10th double-double of the season and the 26th of his career. While much of that production may have kept the game from getting out of hand earlier, it didn’t do much to help Kansas stay in the contest.
No other KU player reached double figures in scoring and the other four Kansas starters shot a combined 11-for-32 from the floor in Saturday’s lopsided loss.
“I think it’s been clear all season when we get stagnant our offense doesn’t look its best,” Wilson said.
Harris, who finished with just five points on 2-of-12 shooting, agreed.
“We’ve got to play together,” he said after adding seven assists, five rebounds and no turnovers to his game line. “That’s coach’s system, playing together. That’s our best ball. If we play individual ball, we’re not going to win too many games. So, if we get to playing together in the Big 12 and March Madness, we should be pretty good.”
Self described the way the Jayhawks played on Saturday as having too many players on “islands.” The Jayhawks’ desire to play one-on-one basketball led to bad shots, easy defensive execution for Texas and a few too many KU turnovers.
“We’re pretty good when we play together and play as a unit,” Self said. “And today we played more as individuals because Texas did some good things to take us out of stuff. We weren’t very good.”
So, now it’s on to the postseason for the defending national champions.
The team’s postgame meeting, which lasted nearly 30 minutes, was significantly longer than most. And Self said when he arrived in the media room that part of the discussion was about what comes next.
“We’re not leaving out of here happy,” he said. “But they still know there’s bigger fish to fry.”
Asked if that was the theme of the postgame discussion, Self added, “Maybe a do-better talk in conjunction with that.”
So, now the Jayhawks will turn their attention to next week’s Big 12 tournament, where they’ll be the No. 1 seed and open play at T-Mobile Center at 2 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s 8-9 matchup between West Virginia and Texas Tech.
Self made it clear that there would be no pouting or hangover from Saturday’s loss. With the potential for three games in three days against the toughest conference in the country, there just isn’t time for any of that.
“I’m not going to dwell on the fact that we lost to a team as good as Texas on the road,” Self said. “You play a team like Texas on the road, it would be an upset if we won. A minor upset, but it’d be an upset. So, I’m not going to take away too much from it other than the fact that we weren’t very good and we’ve got to get better.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eSPH2i-_c
