Horns’ Jones flashes X-factor potential in win
Iowa State guard Tyler Harris should’ve known better then to flip a soft pass in the vicinity of Kai Jones. The rangy Texas sophomore read it like a safety, plucking it out of the air.
Jones then weaved through some traffic, Euro-stepped around one final defender, then rose a finish that would’ve conjured images of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Alas, Jones ran out of steam and was rejected by the rim.
It didn’t matter in the end — No. 15 Texas (15-7, 9-6 Big 12) beat Iowa State (2-19, 0-16) 81-67 at Hilton Coliseum on Tuesday night. But that play by Jones, a 6-foot-11 former long jumper, indicated both how special he can be and how much room he still has to grow.
“He had some plays tonight where he really played with great maximum effort and multiple efforts,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “When he does that he’s really, really special as a player.”
Jones was pivotal off the bench with senior big Jericho Sims plagued by foul trouble and reserve forward Royce Hamm Jr. struggling. He scored a seasonhigh 17 points on 4-for-7 shooting with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 27 minutes. A 65.4 percent free-throw shooter entering the game, Jones also went 9-for-10 at the stripe.
There were highlight plays, like the fast-break lob he finished off a crisp setup by junior guard Courtney Ramey. Jones also gathered a missed dunk by freshman Greg Brown and rose for a putback dunk as a couple of Cyclones cleared out of the blast zone.
But Jones’ defensive activity was even more influential. His arms seem to stretch from sideline to sideline, and when engaged there’s almost no pass the opposing team can make that doesn’t feel like a gamble. Aside from the three steals, Jones had at least a handful of deflections as Iowa State racked up 17 turnovers.
“He defensive rebounded pretty well,” Smart said. “His activity on defense, he got his hands on the ball some, which was good. So, you know, I’m happy for him that he’s kind of coming to this realization of who he can be. He’s really just scratching the surface, but we need this type of energy and multiple efforts from him as we go here in March.”
With two regular-season games remaining, Texas doesn’t have much time to find itself. It’s still searching to regain some of that early season magic that led to a No. 4 ranking in the Associated Press poll.
But the strides being made by players such as Jones and senior shooting guard Jase Febres are encouraging as tournament time draws near.
Like Jones, Febres has considerable X-factor potential. He’s still not wholly recovered from microfracture knee surgery a year ago, but there were positive signs against Iowa State.
Febres knocked down a season-best three 3-pointers on four attempts and added two rebounds and one assist in 21 minutes. He knocked down a couple of clutch triples in the second half as Iowa State’s Jalen Coleman Lands (22 points) led a charge that cut Texas’ lead to eight.
There was no hesitance to Febres’ game on either end. Afterward, it felt like a weight had been lifted.
“My knee is starting to finally feel … like kind of getting back to myself, like 95 percent now from having to relearn how to walk to run to moving on defense,” Febres said. “It’s been a long journey, finally coming back and then being able to go out there and make shots and run and actually like feel athletic again is, that’s what the journey is all about. And we get to celebrate the ending, which is me finally being able to play.”
Brown 3-7 5-5 12, Sims 3-4 0-2 6, Coleman 5-7 0-0 12, A.jones 4-10 0-0 9, Ramey 3-7 6-6 14, K.jones 4-7 9-10 17, Febres 3-5 0-0 9, Cunningham 0-1 0-0 0, Hamm 0-2 0-0 0, Hepa 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-51 20-23 81.
Johnson 5-12 2-2 13, Young 3-4 4-4 10, Coleman-lands 9-16 0-0 22, Harris 1-8 0-0 3, Jackson 2-11 0-0 5, Conditt 5-8 1-3 11, Walker 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 26-62 7-9 67.
Texas 38-28. Texas 9-20 (Febres 3-4, Coleman 2-3, Ramey 2-4, Brown 1-3, A.jones 1-5), Iowa St. 8-28 (Coleman-lands 4-7, Walker 1-3, Johnson 1-4, Harris 1-6, Jackson 1-8).
Sims, Young. Texas 32 (K.jones 8), Iowa St. 26 (Johnson 6). Texas 15 (Coleman 5), Iowa St. 18 (Johnson 5). Texas 17, Iowa St. 21. 1,191 (14,384).
The production of Jones and Febres helped offset some of the struggles of the Longhorns’ three starting guards. Though Matt Coleman, Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey combined for 35 points and 13 assists, they also committed 11 of the team’s 19 turnovers.
Texas can survive those haphazard mistakes against a team such as Iowa State. But ball control isn’t something it can afford to struggle with in its next game against No. 16 Oklahoma on Thursday.
But like coaches told Jones after his botched dunk, you live and learn and move on.
“My legs probably were a little tired,” Jones said, chuckling. “So I should have went for the layup. But, I mean, coaches just tell me to leave it in the past and move on to the next day.”
Nick Moyle reported
from Austin.