No. 15 Texas falls to Kansas State; Remains 2nd in Big 12

The No. 15 Texas Longhorns Men’s Basketball team fell to the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan on Saturday afternoon, snapping their seven-game winning streak which included wins over four AP Top 25 teams in four of the last five games.

It marked the fourth time in a row that [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]Kansas State ( 16-7, 6-4 Big 12) has defeated the Longhorns in Manhattan, as the all-time series record still favors Texas 17-12.

Texas came out flat in the first half, turning the ball over nine times and allowing the Wildcats to score 15 points off of turnovers. Those turnovers led to the Longhorns being down by 21 points at halftime. Despite the 74-57 loss to Kansas State, the Longhorns remain second in the Big 12 Conference standings.

With the loss the Longhorns’ overall record falls to 18-5 overall, and 7-3 in the Big 12. Freshman guard Isaiah Taylor led Texas with a team-high 17 points, the majority of those points came in the second half.

Junior forward Jonathan Holmes left the game midway through the first half with a right knee injury and the athletic staff ruled him out for the remainder of the game following an evaluation at halftime.

The Wildcats had little trouble finding the bottom of the basket in the first half as they shot 50 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the three-point line. On defense the Wildcats forced Texas to rely on taking outside shots by consistently having three or four players in the paint. The Longhorns couldn’t adjust to the Wildcat’s defensive game plan and shot 28.6 percent from outside in the first half.

With the absence of Jonathan Holmes in the second half, the Longhorns needed players like Cameron Ridley and Javan Felix to step up, but neither could get their offensive games going.

Freshman Marcus Foster scored a career-high 34 points for the Wildcats, which ended up as the most points by a Kansas State freshman since Michael Beasley scored 39 against Kansas back in 2008.

Despite the Longhorns’ poor shooting from the field, Texas shot a season-high 88.9 (16-of-18) free-throw percentage. The Longhorns also out-rebounded the Wildcats 35-to-29 in the loss.

The Longhorns return to action on Tuesday against Oklahoma State at the Frank Erwin Center. The game will Tip-off  at 6 P.M. CT and will air on ESPN2 and the Longhorn Radio Network.[/s2If]
[s2If current_user_is(s2member_level0) OR current_user_is_not(administrator)]

[/s2If]
Question for the fans:How do think Texas will play against Oklahoma State on Tuesday? Sound off below.