AUSTIN, Texas – Playing in their fifth-straight game against a ranked opponent, the No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks fell to the No. 20 Texas Longhorns, 79-76, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas on Monday night.
The Jayhawks fall to 19-4 (8-2 Big 12), while the Longhorns improve to 18-6 (7-4 Big 12). Kansas falls to 9-3 in games not played in Allen Fieldhouse this season.
Kansas opened the game by owning the glass, outrebounding the Longhorns 8-1 in the early minutes. Kansas used its rebounding advantage build into its lead, as KU found an early 18-11 lead with 11:43 remaining in the first half.
Texas responded by rattling off an 10-0 run to retake the lead at 21-18 with 8:27 left in the half. The Longhorns would draw their lead out to as many seven in the first half and took a 40-35 lead into the locker room.
The second half continued to be a back-and-forth affair between the two teams, as Kansas regained the advantage with just under 12 minutes remaining. After trading buckets, junior Christian Braun put the Jayhawks up with an emphatic dunk to make the score 63-60 with 9:23 remaining.
Minutes later with the score tied at 67, Braun capitalized on a deep 3-point attempt to put Kansas up 70-67 with 6:35 remaining.
Tied at 72-72 and in possession of the basketball, the Jayhawks went in the paint to senior David McCormack, who made a strong move to the basket and converted. After the McCormack basket, senior Ochai Agbaji got to the rim and scored on a put back on a Jalen Wilson miss to bring the score to 76-72 with 1:04 remaining.
After a Texas 3-pointer and failed possession KU, Texas retook the lead on a jumper from Timmy Allen to bring the score to 77-76 with 21 seconds remaining. Trailing by one with 18 seconds to go, Texas took over possession and was sent to the free throw line to make the score 79-76 with 6.8 seconds left.
Wilson was sent to the free throw line, but was unable to convert, giving the Longhorns their second-straight win against ranked opponents.
The Jayhawks were led by 18 points from Wilson, who shot 6-of-10 from the field, paired with a team-high 11 rebounds for the redshirt-sophomore’s second double-double this season. McCormack added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Bruan had 13 points and Agbaji 11 points for the game. The Jayhawks shot 58.3 percent (28-of-48) from the field in the game, while holding Texas to 42 percent (28-of-67) from the floor. The Longhorns were led by 24 points from Allen.
The Jayhawks return home to Allen Fieldhouse to host the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday, February 12 at 12 p.m. on CBS.
