Texas Basketball: Longhorns Roll Past K-State
Sophomore guard Courtney Ramey recorded a career-high 26 points and a career-best 5 steals to lead The University of Texas Men’s Basketball team (16-11, 6-8 Big 12) to a 70-59 victory against Kansas State (9-18, 2-12 Big 12) on Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum. Ramey converted a career-best 10-of-16 field goals, including 4-of-9 from three-point range, and added 6 rebounds in 34 minutes.
"Our guys have really taken ownership of what we've wanted them to do," Shaka Smart told reporters after the game. "It's hard to come in here and win if you don't have a lot of grit to you. I thought Courtney did a good job of setting the tone with that."
Junior guard Matt Coleman III, who had missed Wednesday’s home game against TCU with a bruised right heel, returned to the starting lineup and registered 12 points (8-8 FT) and 3 assists. Redshirt sophomore guard Andrew Jones added 12 points while hitting 3-of-5 from three-point range.
Ramey had 21 of his game-high 26 points in the opening half (matching his previous career high), as the Longhorns built a 42-23 lead at the break. Texas converted 15-of-24 field goals (.625), including 5-of-11 (.455) from three-point range, in the first half. Leading 26-20 at the 6:46 mark of the first half, the Longhorns scored 13-consecutive points to increase their cushion to 39-20 with 1:49 remaining.
UT held the Wildcats without a made field goal for the final 7:40 of the first half. K-State hit just 8-of-25 (.320) from the floor, including a 1-of-5 mark (.200) from three-point range, in the opening 20 minutes. The Longhorns extended their cushion to as much as 21 points (56-35) following an Andrew Jones three-pointer with 10:52 remaining. K-State was unable to get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.