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Texas Basketball: 5 reasons Longhorns upset Kansas Jayhawks

By Andrew Miller

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - DECEMBER 18: Lagerald Vick #24 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrates a basket against the South Dakota Coyotes in the second half at Allen Fieldhouse on December 18, 2018 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - DECEMBER 18: Lagerald Vick #24 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrates a basket against the South Dakota Coyotes in the second half at Allen Fieldhouse on December 18, 2018 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 23: Kerwin Roach II #12 of the Texas Longhorns shoots against Joshua Langford #1 and Matt McQuaid #20 of the Michigan State Spartans during the championship game of the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 23: Kerwin Roach II #12 of the Texas Longhorns shoots against Joshua Langford #1 and Matt McQuaid #20 of the Michigan State Spartans during the championship game of the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

4. Kerwin Roach Jr. stays hot

Texas basketball is going to need a performance to keep up with Kansas like the one it got out of senior shooting guard Kerwin Roach Jr. against Texas Tech. In one of his best individual efforts of the regular season so far, Roach Jr. led the Horns in scoring with 17 points after a very hot start shooting from the field.

Roach Jr. got back on track in the last two games. It’s just ironic that his best games in Big 12 play so far for the Horns resulted in two losses. He posted a combined 15 points in the first two wins in Big 12 play, over Kansas State and West Virginia. Roach Jr. had 35 points combined in the losses to Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

Something has to give soon in terms of the correlation between Roach Jr.’s scoring and the Horns actually getting in the right side of the win column. During the non-conference slate, the correlation between Texas winning and Roach Jr. scoring in double figures was very strong. The only two games that saw Roach Jr. score in single figures in non-conference play were two of the more dumbfounding, against the VCU Rams and Radford Highlanders.

Moreover, Kansas is a team that can put up points in bunches. For a Texas offense that still finds itself searching for its true identity and consistent attack, someone needs to emerge to give them a chance of winning. What’s better than the Horns getting another huge effort out of its most talented senior leader.

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