Texas won today.
No wait, they lost. But the Longhorns did win respect today, something sorely missing from this program for almost 6 years.
The Texas Longhorns started red hot, leading by 12 at one point in the first half. The defense was strong and players were having fun. Then things took a turn in the second half. Shaq Cleare suffered a right shoulder injury and did not return. His injury and subsequent absence hurt an already depleted frontcourt. Kansas took advantage of what any good team would take advantage of – the inside. Perry Ellis started doing work on a tired Prince Ibeh and had a big game for the Jayhawks. A 12-4 run by Kansas in the middle of the second half would have sealed the deal for most opponents.
But not this team.
Texas did their best to chip away at the lead and ended up whittling it down to 5 with less than a minute to go in the game. Ultimately Kansas would win the game 76-67 but the game didn’t feel like a loss.
Under Bill Self, Kansas is 200-9 at Allen Fieldhouse. Repeat, just 9 losses. In his 13 years in Lawrence, Kansas and Bill Self haven’t lost double digit games. College teams don’t win in Lawrence very often unless you they are playing on a football field. For the Longhorns to give Kansas a game on their home court and play until the end, even when the odds were stacked heavily against them, is very telling about this program and its new coach.
Connor Lammert and Prince Ibeh both stepped their games today. Isaiah Taylor, Eric Davis, and Javan Felix scored in double digits as well. It was a great team performance but when the team is unable to play at full strength, it makes a game victory much more difficult.
Luckily for the Longhorns they are in the NCAA tournament as of now. Today’s loss was unfortunate, but not surprising. Kansas is that good of a team. The Texas Longhorns will have the opportunity to exact revenge against TCU on Tuesday before their Big 12/SEC matchup against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Texas lost to the Horned Frogs 58-57 in Fort Worth earlier in January.
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Game Photos
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