LAWRENCE, Kan. – Trailing by two points at the intermission, the Jayhawks outscored Texas 38-25 in the final 20 minutes as No. 3 Kansas secured a 69-58 win over the Longhorns Monday night inside Allen Fieldhouse. Senior Udoka Azubuike came off the bench to post a team-high 17 points and his ninth double-double of the season as the Jayhawks claimed their seventh-straight win.
The win moved Kansas to 19-3 on the year and 8-1 in the Big 12. Texas fell to 14-8 in its 2019-20 campaign and 4-5 in league play.
MOMENT OF THE GAME
Holding a two-point advantage with 11 minutes remaining in regulation, Azubuike scored six points during a two-minute, 8-0 KU run to finally put some space between the Jayhawks and the visitors from Austin. That run extended to a 19-4 spurt as the Jayhawks held the Longhorns to just two field goals during an eight-minute span of the second half. KU’s run was capped with another Azubuike lay-up at the 3:09 mark, giving him his 16th and 17th points of the night as the Jayhawk lead swelled to 63-46.
STAT OF THE GAME
407 – With his 8-of-10 performance from the field, Azubuike collected the 400th field goal of his collegiate career, a number which qualifies him for the NCAA’s all-time field goal percentage list. His career mark of 407-of-543 (75.0%) ranks him as the leader in NCAA DI history for field goal percentage. The mark is just ahead of Tacko Fall (2016-19), who turned in a career percentage of 74% (497-of-672) during his time at Central Florida.
NOTES
The win improved Kansas’ record to 52-12 on ESPN Big Monday under Bill Self (Since 2004) and gave the Jayhawks their 16th-consecutive Big Monday victory. The Jayhawks are also now 30-0 under Self at home on Big Monday.
Kansas trailed 33-31 at the half, marking the second-straight game that KU has trailed UT at the half. The deficit at the break was just the sixth time this season the Jayhawks have been behind at the half, KU is now 4-2 in those contests this season.
Texas has led its opponent 14 times this season at the half with a record of 11-3. Two of those losses coming to Kansas.
The Jayhawks opened the second half with an 11-3 run, taking a 42-36 advantage with 14:03 left in the game. During the run, KU forced UT to go 0-for-4 from the field while committing two turnovers.
Kansas added a second run later in the half, this time going on a 19-4 run over a span of 7:28, taking its largest lead of the night at 63-46 with 3:09 to play.
The Jayhawks six assists on the night were the fewest by a KU team since the Jayhawks dished six against West Virginia on Jan. 19, 2019.
Kansas and Texas combined for ten assists, the fewest by KU and its opponent since the 1988-89 season. The Longhorns four assists were the fewest by a Jayhawk opponent since Texas tallied three on Feb. 29, 2016.
KU edged Texas 38-25 in the second half, the Jayhawks are now 16-2 when outscoring their opponent in the second half.
KU held its opponent under 60 for the 12th time this season, with a record of 11-1 in those matchups and a 179-2 clip in the Self era.
For the fifth-straight game, KU’s bench outscored its opponent as the Jayhawks edged Texas 24-14.
Senior Udoka Azubuike finished with a team-high 17 points on an 8-for-10 shooting performance and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds as Azubuike recorded his 17th career double-double and his ninth this season.
In his last seven games, Marcus Garrett has dished 36 assists while committing just nine turnovers, a 4-to-1 ratio.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“He is tough to deal with in their pick-and-roll stuff because he is such a big target. Even if you have a help defender there, they can throw it up and he can go get it. He did a nice job finishing.”
– UT head coach Shaka Smart on Udoka Azubuike
UP NEXT
Kansas opens a two-game Big 12 road swing at TCU on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 11 a.m. (Central). The contest will be televised on ESPN2. Kansas is 18-2 all-time against TCU and has won the last four meetings. The Jayhawks are 7-1 versus TCU in meetings in Fort Worth, Texas, including a 5-1 record in Schollmaier Arena. Beginning in 2014, KU has won the last six meetings against TCU in Fort Worth including last year’s 82-77 overtime victory.
