LAWRENCE, Kan. – Courtney Ramey scored 18 points to lead five double-digit Texas players, and the Longhorns’ number 8 defeated Kansas, third place, 84-59 on Saturday, to equal an opponent’s most unequal victory in the history of Allen Fieldhouse .
Andrew Jones had 14 points, Matt Coleman III had 13 and Jericho Sims had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Longhorns (8-1, 2-0 Big 12), which transformed an eight-point lead in the break into a surprising explosion. .
The winning margin was the biggest for an opponent in Phog since Missouri’s 91-66 victory on February 1, 1989.
“There were blank looks in the heap,” said Kansas coach Bill Self. “We have to be much better mentally. Much more difficult. ”
Jalen Wilson scored 20 points and Ochai Agbaji scored 11 for the Jayhawks (8-2, 1-1), who hit 31% of the field and hit just 3 of 23 points beyond the arc by losing their first game since their debut against Gonzaga, the best ranked.
“The message is pretty obvious: it doesn’t happen at the Fieldhouse,” said Wilson. “This is very embarrassing. We are a good team and today we have not shown what we are capable of. ”
Coincidentally, it was the first game in the top 10 for Texas in a game of the big 12 of the regular season since hitting the n °. 2 Kansas on January 22, 2011. The victory also resulted in a three game skid against the Jayhawks, who had won 16 of 17 against the Longhorns and suffered 16-1 against them in games played within the 65-year-old Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas hasn’t spoken since December 22, when it beat seventh-placed West Virginia. The 12-day layoff was the longest in Bill Self’s regular season, who took over the program before the 2003-04 season.
The Longhorns had been off for even longer. Thanks to an increase in COVID-19 positives at Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, Tuesday night’s game was canceled. That left Texas without a game since beating Oklahoma State on December 20.
“I’m very happy for our guys. They put so much energy, time and effort into everything, ” said coach Shaka Smart, whose Longhorns have never lost.” In the last few months, there have been boy cancellations and problems in the air, with some guys unavailable, but the guys just held on and controlled what they could control. ”
Kansas missed its first eight shots and finished 1 of 7 beyond the arc in the first half. Texas did a little better in the 3-point range and coughed 10 times, although a late run fueled by Kai Jones off the bench resulted in a 37-29 lead at halftime.
The Jayhawks reduced their deficit to four at the start of the second half, but Andrew Jones (who had hit 1 in 8 on the field) 3 consecutive points Coleman and Ramey gave Texas their biggest advantage in 50-38 with 15:42 to go.
Counting on their experience, the Longhorns refused to relieve the pressure. They started creating twists on the defensive end that led to easy layups, and their outside kicks continued to sizzle. His advantage increased to 63-47 with 8:51 left, forcing Self to request a timeout – only for the Jayhawks to immediately turn around again.
Sims added a dunk, Donovan Williams a 3 and Self burned another timeout while Texas’ advantage increased.
At that point, it looked like the Longhorns would stand a chance for the most unequal victory for an opponent in Allen Fieldhouse history. Tyon Grant-Foster’s basket with just over a minute remaining prevented this from happening.
“The biggest thing I said when we entered the locker room after the game was, ‘We should do this,'” said Ramey. “This shouldn’t be a shock or a surprise. When you go [and] be it us, you come out with a dominant performance. Now we have to keep rolling. ”
THOMPSON SITS
The Jayhawks played without Bryce Thompson, their best player off the bench, after Self said the freshman guard injured his back due to “a bad fall in a bad situation” in practice. Thompson averages 5.4 points in 17.5 minutes per game.
BIG PICTURE
Texas followed the plan to defeat the Jayhawks perfectly. He closed the perimeter, where Kansas had been so good in its victory over West Virginia, and dominated the glass to avoid second chance opportunities.
Kansas coped with a much longer team by winning No. 20 Kentucky earlier this season. But the Jayhawks struggled with what Texas brought to the ground. Big guy David McCormack was totally ineffective in painting, and his guards, who depend on cutting the runway to create shots, always found their way blocked by burnt orange.
NEXT
Texas: returns home to face Iowa on Tuesday.
Kansas: heads to TCU the same night.