After taking a lead into halftime against Kansas, it was a poor second half from Texas, dropping another conference game, 69-58. The main struggles for the Longhorns were on the offensive side, as they struggled to shoot, especially from behind the three-point line.
As a team, they were 4-24 from behind the arc, a horrid 16.7%. Matt Coleman led the team in made three-pointers with two, but missed his other five attempts, going 2-7. The rest of the Texas starters went 1-9 from deep, with Andrew Jones’ first-half buzzer-beater being the only three-pointer made off the bench.
The good news about the Longhorns’ effort from the free-throw line is that they made 80% of them. The bad news is that they only attempted 10 shots. Going into tonight’s game, Texas had attempted and made the fewest amount of free-throws in the entire country. It continues to kill them in games as they are not getting enough points from the charity strike to win them games.
As usual for Kansas, it was Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike leading the way. Combining for 33 points, they were the two leading scorers for the Jayhawks, shooting 13-20 from the floor. Azubuike also dominated on the glass, recording his ninth double-double of the season, going for 17 points and 12 rebounds.
In the series history between the two schools, Texas has been dominated, losing 21 out of the last 25 matchups. Since hiring Shaka Smart in 2015, Texas is 1-12 against Kansas, with the one win coming last season in Austin.
After being at .500 in Big 12 play for one day, the Longhorns are back to a losing conference record. Sitting at 4-5, they now become one of four teams with a losing record in the conference. A win tonight would have gone a long way with Texas’ slim NCAA Tournament hopes, but day by day, the door is shutting.
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