Longhorns Smacked by No. 9 Kansas in 10th Loss of Season
Needing a statement win on their resume with March right around the corner, the Texas Longhorns instead got throttled by the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks in potentially their final road game at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday.
Hunter Dickinson scored a game-high 20 points and all five Jayhawk starters scored in double figures as Kansas (21-6, 9-5) ran away with a 86-67 win over Texas despite being without starting guard Kevin McCullar Jr., the Big 12's current leading scorer.
© Denny Medley, USA TODAY
The Longhorns (17-10, 6-8 Big 12) got a team-high 12 points from both Dillon Mitchell and Tyrese Hunter while Ithiel Horton added 10 points off the bench. Dylan Disu and Max Abmas, Texas' two leading scorers, combined for just 13 points on 5 of 14 from the field.
Texas shot 41.9 percent from the floor and trailed by as many as 24 in a game that represented a major Quad 1 opportunity, especially without McCullar in for Kansas.
The Longhorns hit three early triples to build a 13-12 lead but offered little defensive resistance in the interior on the other end. This proved to be a trend for the entire game, as Kansas finished with a ()-() edge for points in the paint while attempting just eight 3s.
Kansas then used a 12-0 run before building a convincing 45-25 lead headed into the halftime. Texas shot just 26.5 percent in the first half (9 of 34) and committed seven turnovers.
The Longhorns only cut the lead down to as few as 13 in the second half, as the Jayhawks got easy look after easy look in the paint despite shooting themselves in the foot with multiple turnovers during the first 10 minutes of the second half. Texas failed to capitalized on these opportunities, which prevented a true comeback attempt from forming.
Texas will take on Texas Tech in Lubbock on Tuesday.
