Texas Basketball: 2 studs, 1 dud from massive win over Kansas State

Stud No. 2: Sir’Jabari Rice, SF/SG

Another day, another spectacular outing off the bench for the super senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice.

I don’t think I could find a Longhorns player that is performing at a higher level on a more consistent basis over the course of the last three games than Rice. He continued his streak of scoring in the double figures off the bench in this win over Kansas State, as tied a team-high with 14 points.

Rice got his 14 points on just 2-of-6 shooting from the field. He got most of his points from the free-throw line, where he went an insanely efficient 8-of-9, including some clutch makes late in this game from the stripe.

Any time you can put up 14 points on just six field-goal attempts, you’re really maximizing each offensive possession.

But scoring wasn’t the only area where Rice was proficient in this game. He also gave the Longhorns a season-high 10 rebounds (including three offensive boards), one assist, one turnover, and one steal.

Rice was getting some really important rebounds that helped Texas keep pace with one of the best teams on the boards in the Big 12.

This outing for Rice got him another important marker on the season. He just became the first Big 12 reserve player to put up at least 14 points and 10 boards in a single game during the 2022-23 campaign.

In the last three games, Rice is averaging around 19 points per game and five rebounds off the bench. If that isn’t proof enough that Rice deserves to be the frontrunner at this point of the season for the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year honors, I don’t know what is.