The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
Kansas State upsets Men's Basketball, 73-72
02.03.2007 | Men's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Cartier Martin scored Kansas State's last five points to help the Wildcats to a 73-72 victory Saturday over No. 22 Texas.
Martin's 3-pointer with 41 seconds left gave the Wildcats a 71-68 lead and his two free throws with 13 seconds left made it 73-70.
Texas tried to set up for a 3-pointer to tie but Justin Mason's shot was way off the mark and the putback by Damion James at the horn left the Longhorns one point short.
Martin scored 27 points and Lance Harris added 19 points for the Wildcats (17-6, 6-2 Big 12). Kansas State hit 14 of 27 3-pointers.
Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds for Texas (16-6, 6-2), but didn't touch the ball on the Longhorns' final possession and got little scoring help from his teammates. Guard A.J. Abrams, one of the league's best 3-point shooters, was 2-of-16 from the field.
The Wildcats snapped Texas' 22-game home winning streak. The win keeps the Wildcats in second place in the Big 12 in coach Bob Huggins' first season.
Durant's layup with 27 seconds left pulled Texas within one. But the Longhorns had picked up four fouls to that point and had to watch valuable seconds tick off trying to get the Wildcats to the free throw line.
When they finally did, Martin calmly sunk both of his shots.
Durant had 11 points and only one rebound in the first half. He looked passive early as the Wildcats did a good job denying his teammates chances to pass him the ball. Akeem Wright, the Wildcats' best defender, dogged Durant when he got it, giving him little room to take passes or move when he had the ball.
Harris scored 16 in the first half, hitting four 3-pointers against the Longhorns' zone defense. Texas led 38-33 at halftime on Mason's 3-pointer from the left wing with 2 seconds left.
Durant was much more active in the second half, scoring Texas' first 10 points after halftime by either driving past defenders or slipping behind them for easy layups. Defensively, he snagged rebounds and in one 10-second span blocked three straight shots by the Wildcats' Clent Stewart.
But even as Durant started to cut loose, the Wildcats kept bombing away from 3-point range and led 49-48 on Martin's shot from the left corner.
Texas retook the lead, but coach Rick Barnes never left the zone defense that kept leaving the Wildcats wide open around the perimeter before Martin's last 3-pointer.
POSTGAME NOTES
Team
- Texas suffered its first home loss of the season, snapping an overall 22-game home winning streak. It also snapped a 12-game Big 12 home winning streak, one shy of the UT record (12; Jan. 6, 2000-Jan. 30, 2001).
- Texas has had at least one player reach the 20-point mark in all 22 games this season.
- Texas' 12 blocks tied its season high (Alcorn State, Nov. 9).
- Texas' .833 (15-18) free throw percentage was a season high.
- Texas' freshmen accounted for 63 of 72 (.875) points 23 of 36 (.639) rebounds and 7 of 10 (.700) assists.
- Over 12 home games, Texas has outscored its opponents by an average of 86.3-64.4 points.
- Texas has made at least one 3-pointer in 532 consecutive games.
- Texas suffered its first home loss of the season, snapping an overall 22-game home winning streak. It also snapped a 12-game Big 12 home winning streak, one shy of the UT record (12; Jan. 6, 2000-Jan. 30, 2001).
- Texas has had at least one player reach the 20-point mark in all 22 games this season.
- Texas' 12 blocks tied its season high (Alcorn State, Nov. 9).
- Texas' .833 (15-18) free throw percentage was a season high.
- Texas' freshmen accounted for 63 of 72 (.875) points 23 of 36 (.639) rebounds and 7 of 10 (.700) assists.
- Over 12 home games, Texas has outscored its opponents by an average of 86.3-64.4 points.
- Texas has made at least one 3-pointer in 532 consecutive games.
Connor Atchley
- Atchley's five blocks were a career high and tie Texas' individual season high for this year (Durant vs. vs. Kansas State, Feb. 3; vs. Chicago State, Nov. 10)
- Atchley has recorded at least one block in 10 consecutive games and has four or more blocks three times this season.
- Atchley has pulled down at least six rebounds in three consecutive games.
- Atchley's first five rebounds of the game came in a span of 3:23 in the first half.
A.J. Abrams
- Abrams has made at least one 3-pointer in 25 consecutive games dating to last season.
- Abrams' five rebounds are a career high, he previously had four on three occasions.
- Abrams tied his previous single-game career high for rebounds with four in the first half.
D.J. Augustin
- With two assists, Augustin moved alone into third place on the Big 12 freshman assist list with 145, passing Curtis Stinson of Iowa State (143, 2003-04).
Kevin Durant
- With 32 points in the game, Durant set the Big 12 freshman scoring record with 557, passing Curtis Stinson of Iowa State (534, 2003-04).
- Durant reached the 30-point mark for the third straight game and sixth time this year (all in Big 12 play). Prior to this season there had only been nine 30-point games by freshmen in Big 12 history.
- Durant becomes the first UT player to record three consecutive 30-point games since Jim Krivacs (Dec.5-10 1977). It marks the sixth time in UT history the feat has been accomplished.
- Durant eclipsed the 20-point mark for the 19th time in 22 games and has reached double figures in all 22 contests.
- Durant has scored at least 26 points in all eight Big 12 games this season.
- Durant's five blocks tied his career high (vs. Chicago State, Nov. 10) and Texas' individual season high (Atchley, vs. Kansas State, Feb. 3).
- Durant recorded four or more blocks for the sixth time this season.
- With 14:49 remaining in the second half, Durant blocked KSU guard Clent Stewart on three consecutive shot attempts.
- Durant scored Texas' first 10 points and also 15 of the first 17 points of the second half.
Damion James
- James' three assists career high. He previously had two on six occasions.
Justin Mason
- Mason reached double figures in scoring for the ninth time this season. - Mason's two first-half 3-pointers opened and closed the scoring in the half.
TEXAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Rick Barnes, Head Coach
On where the game got away: When we had to make a defensive play down the stretch, we didn't get a stop. They got what they wanted pretty much. In the second half, they obviously had a great day shooting the ball. I don't think the threes beat us, their best shooter made those shots and they weren't all open.
On Kansas State: They played well. In the second half they didn't turn it over at all. We had a couple situations where we didn't handle it the way we wanted to, but again, I think you give them credit for their win. They had a great shooting day.
Kevin Durant, Freshman Forward
On the last shot: Whoever was open was supposed to take that shot. The play was designed for the open player to get the job done. We just didn't get the job done.
On the game: We should have won that game. We're going to need to bounce back and get ready for A&M. We'll have to execute the game plan and play hard and hopefully we will get the win.
Justin Mason, Freshman Guard
On the defense: I think it was one of the toughest (we've faced) just because they are so physical. That was one of the most physical teams we have played this year.
A.J. Abrams, Sophomore Guard
On playing zone defense: I think they got comfortable with the zone. They just started finding open areas in the zone. It worked for us in the first half and we stayed with it. I wouldn't say we stayed in it too long, I just think they got comfortable with it.
KANSAS STATE POSTGAME QUOTES
Bob Huggins, Head Coach
On the team's shooting: Lance (Harris) made some big shots in the first half, Cartier (Martin) made some big shots in the second half, and I think David Hoskins made us some big shots down the stretch. They played a lot of two-three zone which helped us get shots, and even when they played man, they were running guys into the paint to take all the easy baskets away, so we were kind of forced to shoot that many threes.
On containing Augustin and Abrams: We didn't want to over-help. Durant is so good that when you tend to over help on him, their guards step up and make some big shots. We didn't want to leave those guys open, and we wanted to have them make some shots over us like we try to do with everybody. We didn't give as much help, so we forced the two guards to alter their shots and shoot over us.
Cartier Martin, Senior Forward
On his three-point shots: I was feeling good today. I felt like I could make them at any time I had the opportunity. They were playing off me a little bit, so I just rose up and shot the ball. We were surprised they stayed in the two-three zone as long as they did especially when Lance (Harris) started shooting as well as he did in the first half.
Lance Harris, Senior Guard
On his play in the first half: I was shooting in a rhythm, stepping and making shots, when nobody was really making shots in the first half, so I had to kind of carry our team on my back. After seeing my first and second shots go down, you feel like you can just make any shot you are given, and it was nice to break out of my shooting slump.
