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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Courtney Ramey scored 18 points to lead five Texas players in double digits, and the No.8 Longhorns routed Kansas 84-59 on Saturday to tie an opponent’s most uneven victory in history. Allen Fieldhouse.
Andrew Jones added 14 points, Matt Coleman III had 13 and Jericho Sims had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Longhorns (8-1, 2-0 Big 12), who turned an eight-point lead at halftime in a surprising explosion.
The margin of victory was the greatest for a Phog opponent since Missouri’s 91-66 victory on February 1, 1989.
“There were blank stares in the clique,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We have to be a lot better mentally. A lot harder.”
Jalen Wilson scored 20 points and Ochai Agbaji had 11 for the Jayhawks (8-2, 1-1), who shot 31% from the field and made just 3 of 23 from beyond the arc in losing their first game since their first game. against Gonzaga, the highest ranked.
“The message is pretty obvious: It doesn’t happen in the Fieldhouse,” Wilson said. “It’s very embarrassing. We are a good team and today we didn’t show what we are capable of.”
Coincidentally, it was the first Top 10 game for Texas in a Big 12 regular season game since defeating the No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 22, 2011. The win also broke a three-game skid against the Jayhawks, who had won 16 of 17 against the Longhorns and were 16-1 against them in games played inside Allen Fieldhouse, 65 years. .
Kansas hadn’t spoken since Dec. 22, when they beat West Virginia in seventh place. The 12-day layoff was the longest of the regular season under Bill Self, who took over the program before the 2003-04 season.
The Longhorns had stayed even longer. Thanks to an increase in COVID-19 positives at Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, their Tuesday night game was called off. This has left Texas without a game since defeating Oklahoma State on December 20.
“I’m just happy for our guys. They put so much energy, time and effort into everything,” said coach Shaka Smart, whose Longhorns have never lagged behind. “The last few months the guys have canceled and the guys have things going on in the air, having a few guys unavailable, but the guys just hung on and were in control of what they could control.”
Kansas missed their first eight shots and finished 1 of 7 from beyond the arc in the first half. Texas didn’t fare much better from the 3-point range and spat 10 turnovers, although a late run fueled by Kai Jones off the bench put a 37-29 lead at halftime.
The Jayhawks reduced their deficit to four early in the second half, but Andrew Jones (who had been 1-for-8 in the field) Coleman and Ramey’s three straight points gave Texas their biggest lead at 50. -38 with 15:42 to go.
Based on their experience, the Longhorns refused to step back on the pressure. They started to create turnovers on the defensive end that led to easy layups, and their outside shot continued to sizzle. Their advantage fell to 63-47 with 8:51 to go, forcing Self to call a time-out – only for the Jayhawks to immediately return him.
The Sims added a dunk, Donovan Williams added a 3, and Self burned another timeout as the Texas lead stretched.
At this point, it looked like the Longhorns would stand a chance of securing the most unequal victory by an opponent in Allen Fieldhouse history. Tyon Grant-Foster’s basket with just over a minute left prevented this from happening.
“The most important thing I said when we walked into the locker room after the game was, ‘We’re supposed to do this,'” Ramey said. “It shouldn’t be a shock or a surprise. When you go [and] be us, you come out with a dominant performance. Now we have to keep spinning. ”
THOMPSON SITTING
The Jayhawks played without their best player on the bench, Bryce Thompson, after Self said the first-year goaltender suffered a back injury during a “crash in a bad place” in practice. Thompson averages 5.4 points in 17.5 minutes per game.
BIG PICTURE
Texas followed the plan to beat the Jayhawks perfectly. He closed the perimeter, where Kansas had been so good in their win over West Virginia, and dominated on the glass to prevent second chance opportunities.
Kansas faced a much longer team in beating then-No. 20 Kentucky earlier this season. But the Jayhawks struggled with what Texas brought to the ground. The big man David McCormack was utterly ineffective in painting, and their guards, who relied on crossing the track to create shots, continued to find their way blocked by the Burnt Orange.
NEXT
Texas: Returns home to face Iowa State on Tuesday.
Kansas: headed to TCU the same evening.
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