Longhorns Collapse in Second Half, Fall to Kansas State in Big 12 Tournament
Returning to the same court that they won the Big 12 Tournament on last year, the Texas Longhorns entered Kansas City on Wednesday night against the Kansas State Wildcats looking to defend their title.
However, the hardwood at T-Mobile Center was also the site of Texas' loss in the Elite Eight last season. This time wasn't nearly as heartbreaking as that collapse to Miami was, but the Longhorns will certainly be leaving K.C. with a familiarly-sour taste in their mouth.
Kansas State guard Tylor Perry scored a team-high 21 points and hit clutch free throws down the stretch as the Wildcats overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half to knock the Longhorns out of the Big 12 Tournament with a 78-74 win.
© Amy Kontras, USA TODAY
Texas guard Max Abmas scored a game-high 26 points and had four assists while Ithiel Horton had one of his performances in nearly two months, scoring 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
Longhorns forward Dillon Mitchell had 13 points on 6 of 6 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Dylan Disu struggled with early foul trouble before finishing with nine points and nine boards.
After scoring a career-high 30 points against Oklahoma on Saturday, Texas guard Tyrese Hunter finished with just three points on 0 of 7 shooting.
Along with Perry, the Wildcats got a big game Arthur Kaluma (14 points, eight rebounds) and freshman guard Dai Dai Ames (10 points, three assists). Forward David N'Guessan had 13 points and six rebounds off the bench while guard Cam Carter finished with 10 points and seven assists.
Texas had a strong start and took an early 9-2 lead thanks to some all-around play from Mitchell.
The Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game before Brock Cunningham nailed an open triple and made multiple key plays to spark what became a 14-0 run for the Longhorns.
By the nine-minute mark, Mitchell had eight points on 4 of 4 from the field along with five rebounds. The Longhorns stayed steady and headed into halftime with a 39-29 lead.
K-State came out of halftime with a sense of urgency and put together a 7-0 run. Perry eventually gave Kansas State its first lead in the second half with a deep triple from the left wing.
The Wildcats then built their largest lead of six at 55-49 with 8:40 to play as the Longhorns continued to settle for deep looks that wouldn't fall. This lead quickly went up to seven after Perry hit a high-arcing 3 from the corner.
Texas answered back a few times on the scoreboard down the stretch, but were never able to seize any real momentum. K-State built its lead up to 10 at 67-57 with 4:28 to play.
The Wildcats were in the driver's seat for an impressive win, but Abmas made things interesting. Highlighted by three desperation triples, he scored 11 points in the final 2:14 of action, cutting K-State's lead to as little as two at 76-74 with 11 seconds to play.
It was too little too late for the Longhorns, who fouled and had to watch Carter hit two more free throws to ice the game.
Texas will now await Selection Sunday to see where it falls in the reveal of the NCAA Tournament bracket.
