Horns add tense win to laugher for sweep
AUSTIN — Texas knew the rematch with Kansas probably wouldn’t imitate the teams’ first meeting at Allen Fieldhouse. The Longhorns’ 84-59 win back on Jan. 2 was as stunning as it was impressive, and it sent the Jayhawks into a tailspin of sorts.
But Kansas tends not to stay down long. The team that rolled into the Erwin Center on Tuesday night, one riding a five-game winning streak, was superior to the one Texas encountered a month and a half ago. The Jayhawks moved with a sort of concentrated vindictiveness, eager to prove what happened last time was a fluke.
And while No. 17 Kanas proved it’s not 25 points worse than No. 14 Texas, it wasn’t able to prove it’s better. The Longhorns overcame a double-digit deficit to earn a crucial 75-72 win in overtime over the Jayhawks on Senior Night.
“I'm really proud of the way that our guys came together tonight after Kansas’ phenomenal start,” coach Shaka Smart said. “I thought our guys in the second half showed really good resiliency and toughness.”
Texas (14-6, 8-5 Big 12) got off to a lethargic start, but clawed back into it by attacking the paint when Kansas big man David McCormack went to the bench with two early fouls. Senior guard Matt Coleman (11 points, nine rebounds, five assists) was seeing the floor well — his look-away bounce pass to forward Kai Jones for a fast-break dunk got the few fans in attendance hollering — and forward Jericho Sims looked imposing on both ends.
Then Texas went cold, and Kansas (17-8, 11-6) started swaggering.
On three separate occasions, the Longhorns left KU sharpshooter Ochai Agbaji (17 points) alone in the corner. He hit a pair of 3-pointers and was fouled shooting another. He drilled another triple off a Texas turnover for good measure during a 14-point first half.
But it was Kansas’ lockdown defense that really turned the tide.
Texas looked thrown by the Jayhawks’ perimeter pressure. Unable to create clean looks, it heaved away to a 1-for-11 performance from deep in the first half, the only make coming by sophomore Donovan Williams with 34 seconds remaining.
During one heinous stretch, Texas shot 2-for-14 from the field. Players were chucking bad shots and committing unforced turnovers, leading to easy runout layups and dunks for the Jayhawks on the other end.
Buoyed by a 20-4 run, Kansas carried a 43-32 lead into intermission.
“We weren't ourselves in the first half identity-wise,” Coleman said. “That's why we were down 14. They were outplaying us, playing harder than us and we were turning the ball over. And that's what the score reflected. We just came in at halftime and we knew we had to be better, get back to around ourselves, our identity.”
But Texas had juice left. Freshman Greg Brown scored eight straight for Texas to start the second half, setting the stage for a classic Big 12 duel.
Coleman started finding seams in the Kansas defense, creating shots for himself and teammates. That shot-making energized Texas
on defense, especially once human wrecking ball Brock Cunningham entered the game.
Cunningham’s defensive energy was so critical that Smart left Brown glued to the bench for nearly 19 straight minutes spanning the second half and overtime.
“I couldn't take him out of the game,” Smart said of Cunningham. “He was just too valuable. The way that he was flying around on defense, communicating. One of the big problems we had on defense in the first half was our communication was nowhere near good enough. Brock does that as well as anyone.”
Texas whittled its double-digit deficit down to nothing with 10:36 remaining on pair of Andrew Jones free throws.
The contest seesawed in the furious final minutes as the teams grinded for every bucket.
Andrew Jones missed a wideopen 3 that would’ve given Texas a five-point lead with about 70 seconds to go. McCormack (12 points, four rebounds, five fouls) then missed the front end of a 1and-1 that could have tied the game. Coleman’s dagger 3 rattled out.
On KU's final offensive possession of regulation, McCormack grabbed teammate Marcus Garrett's
miss and laid it in to force overtime.
The final five minutes proved just as tense the preceding 20. Aside from Kansas guard Christian Braun's opening 3, everything came hard.
But Texas won this game by forcing three turnovers, allowing only two field goals and getting to the stripe. Coleman, Courtney Ramey and Kai Jones hit five free throws down the stretch to seal the victory and secure the program’s first regular-season sweep of Kansas.
“I don't think Texas has ever done that in history, and we want to continue to write our own story,” Andrew Jone said. “We want to continue to pave our own way, our own destiny and leave a legacy.”