Kansas vs Texas Basketball Recap

Kansas 80, Texas 68

The Texas Longhorns played terrific defense against the Kansas Jayhawks on Monday night in Austin, Tex. They simply forgot how to play offense, and as a result, a miserable season just got worse for a team that had Final Four aspirations just two months ago.

Yes, in December, all was well with Coach Rick Barnes's ballclub. The boys in burnt orange rolled to a 17-0 start by overwhelming opponents with their power near the rim. Young but talented guards ran the floor and shot the ball with confidence. Texas crushed North Carolina in the home stadium of the Dallas Cowboys, and the Longhorn program was filled with the sense that the Big 12 race was going to come down to this February firefight against King Kansas, the reigning power in the conference.

But a funny thing happened on the way to a No. 1 seed: The Longhorns crumbled on the road in January. Losses at Kansas State and Connecticut, combined with a home loss to Baylor, shattered the confidence of UT's youthful backcourt. As a result of that occurrence, prime post player Dexter Pittman ceased to get quality touches on the low block. All continuity and rhythm disappeared from Texas's offense, a pattern that continued in a Feb. 6 loss at rival Oklahoma. Something needed to change quickly against Kansas if this underachieving and mentally fragile team was going to resuscitate its season.

In 10 minutes and 55 seconds against Coach Bill Self's Jayhawk juggernaut, any dreams of a Texas ascendancy were quickly put to rest.

In the first five minutes and 50 seconds of this Monday matchup at the Frank Erwin Center, the Longhorns were fine. Superstar forward Damion James, who finished with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, scored eight points out of the gate to power Texas to a 14-8 lead at the 14:10 mark of the first half. James - one of only two Longhorns to shoot with any consistency whatsoever in this contest (teammate J'Covan Brown finished with 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting) - sent a message to Kansas that he was ready to play.

But in the next 10 minutes and 55 seconds, his teammates - with the exception of J'Covan Brown - told the Jayhawks they were not ready to compete at the offensive end of the floor.

In that span of time, Texas wouldn't just fail to hit a field goal. The lagging, languishing Longhorn offense which has broken down over the past month failed to register a single point. With forward Gary Johnson and wing Jordan Hamilton hoisting horrible shots and using terrible judgment in UT's halfcourt sets, the Longhorns rarely got quality looks against an increasingly confident KU defense that could sense it was winning a war of wills well before halftime. While Texas conveyed defeatist body language, the Jayhawks went in for the kill, and as a result, the 14-8 lead Texas had with 14:10 left in the first half turned into a 30-14 deficit. When James luckily banked in a 3-pointer with 3:15 left before intermission, the spell had been broken, but the damage had most certainly been done. A 22-0 run in 10 minutes and 55 seconds gave Kansas a commanding lead despite the fact that the Jayhawks were kept in check by UT's consistently active defense.

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Indeed, one of the more striking aspects of this contest is that Kansas shot a very modest 40 percent from the field. The Jayhawks - in a stat that basketball geeks love to point out - averaged less than a point per possession through this game's first 35 minutes. Usually, teams that average less than a point per possession will lose, but because Texas was so woefully inept on its offensive possessions, Kansas was able to win going away and protect its No. 1 national ranking.

Texas played inspired basketball in the defensive half of the court, but this is a two-way game, and because the Longhorns held only half a loaf, they were no match for the more complete and confident crew from Kansas.

Texas will still make the NCAA Tournament, but unless something gets fixed quickly, there will be more prolonged scoring droughts for an offense that has completely lost its way. And as a result, a team with Final Four visions might very well fail to escape the first weekend of the Big Dance.

By: Matt Zemek
Big 12 Fans Senior Staff Writer