Early turnovers help Jayhawks top Longhorns
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Shaquille Cleare turned the ball over on Texas’ first two possessions. Not even 40 seconds had expired before Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham drained a 3-pointer in transition.
Thirty seconds later, Frank Mason III pulled up for a shot outside the arc to put the Jayhawks up 6-0.
“I think that’s the best we started a game in the past few games that we’ve played in,” Mason said. “We have to do that every game moving forward.”
Graham scored 18 points, Mason added 17, and second-ranked Kansas beat Texas 79-67 on Saturday.
Freshman Josh Jackson chipped in 15 points for the Jayhawks, while Svi Mykhailiuk added 12 points and Landen Lucas had 12 rebounds.
Kansas (18-1, 7-0 Big 12) hovered between a sixand eight-point lead for most of the second half. away with 60 seconds remaining when Graham and Mykhailiuk each hit corner 3-pointers in front of the Kansas bench.
“We were so good early, you’re not going to keep playing that way,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. “Texas, we kind of staggered them early, and then the law of averages prevailed. They fought back. I don’t think you should apologize for playing somebody even.” The Longhorns (7-12, 1-6) opened the game with five turnovers in the first four minutes, letting Kansas run out to a quick 10-point lead. Texas managed to cut the deficit to three points with 6½ minutes remaining in the first half, but that was as close as the Longhorns would get. Freshman Jarrett Allen posted season highs with 22 points and 19 rebounds for Texas. Eric Davis Jr. added 12 points, and Cleare scored 11.