No. 9 Kansas defeated Texas 86-67 as a result of poor defense and a lack of scoring opportunities.
The Longhorns kept up with the Jayhawks at first, even taking the lead twice to prevent Kansas from taking a commanding lead. This was a familiar story for the Texas team. But by the conclusion of the first half, Texas had let the lead to slip away, with a 20-point deficit at the break thanks to careless shot attempts and a formidable Kansas front on both ends of the court.
Texas shot a pitiful 26% from field goal range in the half, compared to Kansas’ 58%, one of the lowest percentages from any half this season. Texas had a whopping 60.7% field goal percentage and 38.5% three-point percentage at the end of the second half.
To put things in perspective, Texas had missed its previous seven field goal tries while Kansas had made its previous six at one point in the first half.
With 12 points each, sophomore guard Dillon Mitchell and junior guard Tyrese Hunter concluded as Texas’ top scorers, while graduate guard Ithiel Horton finished with 10 points. One of Texas’s regular top scorers, graduate guard Max Abmas, had just five points, his lowest total of the year, and it appeared to be a major contributing reason in the Longhorns’ defeat.
Together with Abmas, two more highly visible players for Texas—graduate forward Dylan Disu and sophomore guard Chendall Weaver—finished with eight and nine points, respectively, demonstrating that Texas’s offense was unable to compete with Kansas’ defense.
Hunter Dickinson, a senior center for Kansas who finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, played a significant role in the Longhorns’ defeat.
With the Longhorns in the bottom half of the Big 12 rankings and a current conference record of 6–8, Texas will have its hands full the rest of the way if it intends to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Texas will play Texas Tech on February 27 at 8 p.m. in Lubbock in an attempt to get revenge for their first-ever meeting and Big 12 setback of the season.
Leave a Reply