Jayhawks Stick to Fundamentals, Outlast Texas Basketball

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

All the pyrotechnics, loud music, orange and white balloons falling from the ceiling and bravado produced prior to the game were no match for Kansas’ steady, fundamental basketball as the 11th-ranked Jayhawks ran away from No. 17 Texas in the second half in a 75-62 win Saturday before a capacity crowd of 16,540 at the Erwin Center.

Kansas got a team-leading 15points off the bench from freshman Cliff Alexander and double-figure scoring from three other players, Brannen Greene (14 points), Perry Ellis (14 points) and Frank Mason III (12 points). Greene hit on four of his five 3-point attempts.

The Jayhawks (16-3, 5-1 in Big 12 play) shrugged off a torrid start for Texas, steadied their ship with their own hot shooting streak and took a 32-30 halftime lead.

The second half see-sawed back and forth for the first six minutes before Kansas went to work on Texas’s vaunted zone defense, using dribble penetration from[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] the outside and sharp passing to get the ball to the rim.

Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor, who led all scorers with 23 points, kept the Longhorns (14-5, 3-3 in Big 12 play) within reach. Jonathan Holmes added 14 points for Texas and Myles Turner and Cameron Ridley had eight points each.

But Kansas had an answer for all Texas attempted, including the use of a jumbo attack with Holmes at the shooting guard spot and a small, quick offense with three guards in the game at the same time.

“Somewhere along the line we have to show some mental toughness,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “We put so much pressure on ourselves defensively.”

In the end Texas had too many turnovers (four in a ley stretch of the second half) and defensive breakdowns to mount a late comeback.

“We gave away some possessions in that critical stretch and we didn’t get the ball into our bigs like we needed to,” Taylor said.

Texas had nine blocked shots to Kansas’ four. But that’s the only advantage the Longhorns enjoyed as KU had six steals to UT’s 1, had 13 assists to Texas’ eight and had 31 bench points to Horns’ eight.

Most importantly, the Jayhawks had just three turnovers, none in the second half.

“If you don’t turn the ball over, you don’t have to shoot as well,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Texas’ size and length bothered us but we didn’t shy away from it. We drove to pass rather than to score.”

Texas returns to the floor Monday with a critical Big 12 road game against No. 9 Iowa State. Barnes said the Longhorns will be ready.

“I’d rather play – I don’t want another week of practice,” Barnes said. “There is a sense of urgency every game. I believe we can win every time but we aren’t going to by playing like we did today.”

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