Bishop, Horns keep grip on Big 12 lead
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Texas forward Christian Bishop posted up just outside Bramlage Coliseum’s visiting locker room, a sleeve of ice wrapped around his right knee, a to-go box of warm food in hand and a smile stretched across his face.
Right in the middle of Bishop’s postgame interview, interim coach Rodney Terry strolled up the ramp toward the team bus. Big smile on his face, too.
As Terry ambled away, he turned back toward Bishop, the star of No. 10 Texas’ 69-66 win over No. 7 Kansas State.
“That’s the CB I’m looking for right there,” Terry bellowed.
Bishop chuckled, the snarl he played with during a thunderous second half now gone. After all, what was there to scowl over not 30 minutes removed from a heartpounding 14-point comeback win over a Wildcats team gunning for the Big 12’s top spot.
And from a personal standpoint, he’d just had the half of his life: 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, six rebounds (five offensive), two blocks and one steal in 14 ferocious minutes.
“They came into our house and kicked our tails and put up 116 points,” Bishop said, calling back to the Wildcats’ 116-103 win at the Moody Center on Jan. 3. “I’m glad we were able to come here and get a W.”
For a while Saturday evening, Kansas State (18-5, 6-4 Big 12) appeared on its way to sweeping the season series and drawing even with the Longhorns (19-4, 8-2) in the conference standings.
The same locker room that housed an exuberant Texas celebration once the comeback was completed was filled with frustration at halftime. In truth, given how sloppy the Longhorns had played, they were lucky to be down just 36-25 at half after trailing by as much as 14 at three separate points.
But this wasn’t uncharted territory. Texas stormed back from 18 points down to beat TCU on Jan. 11. Three days later it overcame a 12-point deficit to beat Texas Tech.
This team, led by three super seniors and three graduate players, has learned to break down what went wrong without breaking each other down. That’s exactly what they did after shooting 30 percent, committing nine turnovers and losing the rebounding battle by seven in the first half.
“We have hard conversations every single day, so everybody’s comfortable with each other,” Bishop said. “You know, it’s all pure. It’s just for the betterment of your teammate and wanting to win. We can realize that, look each other in the eyes like, ‘Alright, let’s do this.”
Bishop had flames dancing in his eyes in the second half.
He started rough, missing three layups and failing to grab a rebound during the first half. The former Creighton commit wasn’t alone in those struggles — his teammates missed a handful of layups and point-blank looks themselves as the Wildcats converted a slew of turnovers into easy offense.
“I can’t say (what Bishop said) on this mic right now,” sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter said of Bishop’s halftime verbiage. “He was frustrated. But he knew he could get more out of himself. He didn’t get down on himself.”
Texas sliced Kansas State’s lead down to four three minutes into the second half, scoring several buckets off steals. And Hunter (10 points) stayed glued to KSU star guard Markquis Nowell, holding him to just 10 points and three assists with six turnovers.
Kansas State still managed to keep its distance with some timely buckets from leading scorer Keyontae Johnson (16 points). Then, with 14:07 left and the Wildcats up 42-39, Bishop checked in for starting big Dylan Disu.
Immediately, Texas’ demeanor shifted.
Bishop scrapped for one offensive rebound and plowed his way inside for a finish. He rotated over from the weakside to block Ismael Massoud’s layup then snared another offense rebound on the opposite end, banking in the putback to knot the game at 45.
Bishop’s teammates fed off his fury, stringing together stops and scoring with efficiency (57 percent shooting in the second half) to take a six-point lead with 7:32 left after yet another Bishop putback.
“We knew we had to come in here and try to outcompete this team for 40 minutes,” Terry said. “I give my guys a lot of credit. They kept hanging tough. And I thought CB really responded, really gave our team an incredible lift.”
Kansas State pushed back, evening the score at 64 on two tough makes by Johnson and Nowell. It took a one-point lead Nowell’s runner with 61 seconds on the clock.
Bishop’s nerves seemed just fine, though. He twirled inside and finished a soft layup off the glass to regain the lead. On the ensuing possession, he sprung up and blocked Nowell’s jumper then forced a steal. The ball wound up in the steady hands of sixth man Jabari Rice (14 points), who iced the win with two free throws with nine seconds remaining.
“It was a gut check,” Bishop said afterward. Texas passed with flying colors.