Texas Basketball Unable to Stay With Kansas in Latest Home Loss
Texas Basketball could not keep up with Kansas in fifth straight Big 12 loss.
Kansas beat Texas Basketball 77-67 Saturday night in Austin. The Big 12 conference game was played at about a 10-point difference for most of the night.
The Longhorns trailed by nine points at halftime, and the closest they got in the second half was five points. But, Kansas simply out-executed Texas to keep their lead down the stretch.
Texas tried to make things interesting at the very end by stealing the ball with pressure defense, but Kansas simply ran out the clock to win by 10 points.
Texas Doomed By First Half Stretch vs. Kansas
Texas started slowly as Kansas simply played better basketball early on. But, Jarrett Allen started to assert himself down low and Texas got back in the game.
Texas even took a 20-19 lead on a dunk from Allen about halfway through the first half. But, Kansas called a timeout and promptly went on a 12-0 run to take a 31-20 lead. That turned out to be Texas’ only lead of the game, and it lasted only 30 seconds.
These stretches have doomed Texas throughout the year. If another team puts together a few baskets in a row, the Longhorns lack a true PG or ballhandler to get the offense back on track to stop a run.
Then, on the other end, Texas simply could not defend against Kansas. The Jayhawks got great looks from the perimeter against flat-footed defenders. And, Kansas ran sets to get the ball inside for uncontested points in the paint.
Texas Lacked Unity in Second Half
Texas put together a few runs in the second half, but every time Kansas needed a bucket, they got what they wanted.
The Longhorns defenders just could not keep up, and they spent so much energy chasing ball screens and three-point shooters that they lost steam on offense.
The frustrating part about Texas Basketball this season has been the unpredictable nature of who is going to have a good game or bad game.
This time around, sophomore guard Kerwin Roach hurt the team with six turnovers and a handful of missed three-pointers. In the post, Shaq Cleare only scored four points and only grabbed three rebounds in 24 minutes.
Shaq was routinely beat to the basket by Kansas’ Dwight Coleby, a reserve forward averaging 1.2 points per game. Coleby, who is from the Bahamas like Cleare, picked up 12 points off the bench. That was more than Texas’ entire bench, which collected just 9 points.
Jarrett Allen was one of the few individual bright spots in the game. Allen, who is starting to assert himself but not ready to take over games, registered another double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Now, Texas has to regroup before traveling to Lubbock on Wednesday to play Texas Tech. It’s the Longhorns’ last chance to win a road game this season. They also need to win to avoid dropping into last place in the Big 12.
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After losing five games in a row, Texas is now tied with Oklahoma with 4-12 conference records. Oklahoma finishes their regular season at Kansas on Monday, then at home against TCU. Meanwhile, the Longhorns travel to Lubbock and host Baylor in the regular season finale.