clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Kansas Pulls Away From Texas 75-62

Jayhawks struggle early but come back to knock off the Longhorns.

Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas traveled to conference foe Texas for an early afternoon tip and boy, what a great college basketball game.

The game started on a bit of a sour note, with Kansas finding themselves down 8-0 just three minutes into the game.  Texas continued to lead until a Perry Ellis jumper gave KU a 17-15 lead with 9:42 left until halftime.  Texas would tie it a couple of times, but couldn't retake the lead and KU went into halftime with a two point advantage, 32-30, and the folks in the open game thread were feeling pretty good.

The lead would alternate back and forth for a while in the second half, and with 14:39 remaining, KU found themselves trailing 44-39.  From that point on, it was pretty much all Kansas, as a Cliff Alexander dunk, Wayne Selden three, and Brannen Greene three gave KU a 47-44 lead.

The Jayhawks would never trail again.  By the 9:00 mark, KU had a five point lead.  By the 6:00 mark, it was a seven point lead.  And KU finally went up by 10 at the 4:13 mark.  The Jayhawks kept Texas at arm's length the rest of the way, and finished with a 75-62 victory.

Kansas only played 8 players this game, and the more remarkable stat is this - KU did not give up a turnover in the second half.

Cliff Alexander came off the bench to lead the Jayhawks in scoring with 15 points on 6/11 shooting.  Brannen Greene and Perry Ellis each added 14 while Frank Mason put in 12.  Isaiah Taylor of Texas led all scorers with 23 on 8/17 shooting.

Each team pulled in 37 rebounds on the day.  Alexander collected nine and Kelly Oubre picked up six more boards.  Kansas had 13 assists, led by Mason's 4.

KU shot 6/18 (33%) from 3-pt range compared to UT's 3/18 (16%).  Brannen Greene was KU's primary threat, going 4/5 from beyond the arc.

Kansas nailed 15/19 (79%) free throws while Texas went 11/15 (73%) from the stripe.

Up next for Kansas, the Jayhawks will travel to Fort Worth to play in TCU's temporary high-school gym home and take on the Horned Frogs on Wednesday, January 28, at 8 PM Jayhawk time.