Hawking Points: Nichols' 20 not enough as Kansas falls 76-60 to Texas
In a game that the Kansas Jayhawks thought was kept largely out of their control, the Texas Longhorns took full advantage in the paint to bully their way to a 76-60 win in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament
It was pretty clear that Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider was not happy with the officiating. "I have seen coaches being fined $20,000 for comments regarding officiating, and if the fin structure was on a sliding scale relative to your compensation, then I might have a lot more to say."
But regardless of any thoughts on the officiating, the Jayhawks were not able to keep the Longhorns off the glass. 20 points from S'mya Nichols was not enough to overcome the huge edge in the paint.
Key Plays
Texas showed what they could do early in this game, jumping out to leads of 4-0, 9-5 and 17-7 in the first quarter to force the Jayhawks into a big adjustment. After calling timeout, Brandon Schneider deployed a zone defense to disrupt the Texas offense, and it seemed to be working, at least slowing down the offensive onslaught.
But Kansas struggled to score consistently throughout the day, especially with the foul trouble starting to pile up. Danai Papadopoulou picked up four fouls in the first half, and Nichols and Jackson each had 2, but Kansas was somehow able to make up some ground, going into the half down just five points.
But the third quarter started as disastrously as possible from a foul perspective, drawing the ire of Schneider. Jackson got called for two quick offensive fouls in the first three minutes of the quarter, forcing her to sit for nearly 10 minutes of game time. But Kansas was able to battle for the rest of the quarter without her, as Kersgieter and Nichols took advantage of multiple defensive plays to bring the margin as close as a single point.
But with 3 minutes left in the third quarter, the rebounding edge took over for the Longhorns. They put together a quick 6-0 run, held a five point lead at the end of the third quarter, and then continued to push their advantage in the final period. The lead quickly jumped to 11, leading to Jackson coming back in the game. She fouled out just three minutes later. Papadopoulou came back in and got just three more minutes, bringing her total to 13 minutes that she was "allowed" to play by the refs.
Eye-Catching Stat Lines
S'mya Nichols only had 2 points in the first quarter, but she exploded after that, finishing with 20 of the 60 points scored by the Jayhawks. She routinely got into the lane, causing issues for Texas with fouls on their bigs in the second half.
Holly Kersgieter had 17 points on just 12 shots, including going 4-6 from three point range. She had 7 rebounds to go with those points.
Zakiyah Franklin had 13 points on 11 shots. She had multiple cuts into the basket that resulted in key points to keep Kansas in the game, but she also took a hard shot on what ultimately was called against her and didn't return.
Area of Improvement
I'm not going to entirely blame this one on officiating, but it's hard to ignore the impact it had on the game, especially as the Jayhawks struggled down the stretch with something that would have been made much simpler if they had their main rebounders in the game.
But while Kansas kept their composure for the most part in this one, they did have huge stretches where they just didn't make shots. Wyvette Mayberry going 0-7 was a huge drain on the team's offense, and they can't afford a game like that in the NCAA Tournament.
Takeaways
It's a disappointing end to the conference tournament, but this was likely always going to be a loss anyway, given how strong the Longhorns have been this year. The hope is that Franklin is ok and that the team gets a semi-favorable matchup in the NCAA Tournament.
Up Next
The Jayhawks finish this portion of the season 19-12 overall on the year. They now await their placement in the postseason. The NCAA D1 Women's Basketball March Madness Bracket Selection Show is scheduled for 7:00pm Central on Sunday March 17th, 2024 on ESPN.
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