The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kansas State
Men's Basketball rallies to defeat K-State, 60-57
01.05.2016 | Men's Basketball
Taylor and Felix combine for 31 points and eight assists in Tuesday's home victory against the Wildcats.
AUSTIN, Texas—Junior guard Isaiah Taylor led all scorers with 17 points, while senior guard Javan Felix added 14 points to lead Texas past Kansas State inside the Frank Erwin Center on Tuesday night in front of 10,620 fans. With the win, the Longhorns (9-5, 1-1 Big 12) improved to 16-4 all-time in Big 12 Conference home openers.
Taylor's 17 points for the game puts him just nine points shy of the 1,000-point milestone. Senior center Prince Ibeh recorded a season-high seven points in addition to nine rebounds (four offensive) in a career-high 27 minutes, while senior forward Lammert tied his season high with nine rebounds and added eight points.
K-State (10-4, 0-2) was led by freshman Barry Brown with 15 opints, while Justin Edwards added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
As a team, the Longhorns held the Wildcats to 57 points on 37.3 percent (19-of-51) field goal shooting, including a 3-of-19 (.158) mark from three-point range. Texas narrowly outrebounded Kansas State, 33-32.
The Longhorns started the game on a 7-0 run, including a Felix 3-pointer and a dunk from Ibeh, while holding the Wildcats scoreless for nearly five minutes. Kansas State would quickly battle back with two layups to make it 7-4 Texas at the 14:49 mark.
After trading baskets from beyond the arc, the Wildcats would knock one down from the charity stripe and tally another layup to tie the game at 10 with 10:50 remaining in the first half. The Longhorns would slowly regain the advantage, increasing it to as much as seven (24-17) at the 4:37 mark.
After Taylor picked up his third foul at the 3:54 mark, K-State used a 10-2 spurt to take its first lead of the game (27-26) with 32 seconds remaining. Carlbe Ervin II then beat the buzzer with a layup to give the Wildcats a 29-26 advantage at the break.
It would remain a one-possession game in the opening minutes of the second half, with K-State holding a 35-32 advantage headed into the first media timeout. The Wildcats would extend this margin to five (37-32) after a Brown jumper with 14:16 left in regulation. Texas would wedge its way back, and a Taylor layup in transition would tie it at 39 with 11:30 remaining.
It would remain a tight battle in the next few minutes, and the Longhorns would make their next five points from the free-throw line to trail by one (45-44) with eight minutes left. K-State increased its lead to as much as four (48-44), but a jumper and 3-pointer from Felix would give the Horns their first lead of the half (51-50) with 3:40 remaining.
Texas extended its advantage to as many as six (58-52) after Lammert drilled home a three at the 1:21 mark, but K-State answered with a Brown three-pointer to cut the deficit to 58-55 with 58 seconds left. Taylor hit 1-of-2 free throws on two consecutive possessions, sandwiched around two K-State free throws to give the Horns a 60-57 cushion with 17 seconds remaining. Brown had two looks from three-point range in the final five seconds to tie the game, but he could not connect on either shot.
The Longhorns will travel to Fort Worth to face TCU on Saturday, Jan. 9. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. Central at Schollmaier Arena, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
Texas 60, Kansas State 57
January 5, 2016
Frank Erwin Center (Austin, Texas)
Attendance: 10,620
Team Notes
Texas improved to 16-4 all-time in Big 12 Conference home openers.
The Longhorns recorded their third straight win in the series against K-State and have won four of the last five meetings.
Texas held K-State to 57 points on 37.3 percent (19-of-51) FG shooting, including a 3-of-19 (.158) mark from three-point range.
The guard duo of Javan Felix and Isaiah Taylor combined for 31 points and eight assists against just two turnovers.
Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the ninth time this year and 52nd time in his career (113 games)
Set a career high in minutes played (27, previous high was 25 vs. UT Arlington on Nov. 29, 2013)
Set a season high in points (7) and FG made (3-of-3) and added nine rebounds (one shy of his season high and two shy of his career high)
Four of his 9 boards came on the offensive glass
Has averaged 9.5 rebounds per game in his last two contests (10 at Texas Tech on Jan. 2)
Tied his season high in rebounds (9)
Reached double figures in scoring (17 points) for the 11th time this season and 55th time in his career (73 games)
Set a season high in steals (3)
Has averaged 24.3 points per game while converting 35-of-66 (.510) field goals over the last four games
Is just 9 points shy of reaching the 1,000 career point milestone (991 points)
Postgame Quotes
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On if this game was a must win: Well, from a results standpoint, yes. As people, we always find ourselves in either the result mind or the process mind. When it comes to results, you definitely want to win, especially when you're coming off a couple of losses. You want to get a win any way you can. But as a coach, I try to get back to a process mind as quick as I can, watch the tape, and see areas where we can improve. I thought there were some signs of improvement tonight. We started the game better. We had six consecutive stops. I thought Isaiah [Taylor] really managed the game well, even when he had foul trouble. He had a lot of good passes, and I thought our guys got some stops down the stretch. We gave up too many baskets at other times, but there were some signs.
On having a smaller margin of error since Cam Ridley's injury: You don't want to play to avoidance goals, but it really does come down to that. You have a smaller margin for error when arguably your best player is out, and it changes how you play offensively because so much was done through him that you just have to do what you do better. We made this "do your job" week, and it's only Tuesday so obviously it continues, but we just have to get better at doing our job, whatever the moment requires of us.
On the big shots from the seniors down the home stretch: We were in a six-minute game, and I think we were down two or four. It comes down to getting those stops and making those shots. It's a make or miss game. They always talk about that in the NBA. You want to work on offense to get a great shot, but then it's up to that individual player to knock it down. I was really proud of Connor [Lammert] for taking the three that he made (with 1:21 left to give Texas a 58-52 lead), because he had missed some before that. He has shown some hesitancy at times, because that's just who he is. We want him to be aggressive and let it fly if it's a good shot.
On how close tonight was to his where he wants to be in the future with his defensive pressure: I actually told our team after the game, the press helped us. We didn't force many turnovers, and our guys are naturally just a little conservative with it, which isn't how you want to be. I did think it got some energy going. It was able to take them out of rhythm. I thought it helped us, and we just have to keep getting better at it.
On Ibeh's performance tonight: If you choose to see the good, he had seven points and nine rebounds. Last game he had 10 rebounds, six offensive. In the UConn game, I think he had five blocks. So he's doing some good things. We've just got to keep working with him to do more of those good things, and then work on how we can be effective with him on the floor offensively.
Texas Players
Junior Guard Isaiah Taylor
On what made the difference in the game: I think just down the stretch we had a certain amount of focus just to get stops. On the last play, they took a tough three and we finished the play. We put an emphasis on finishing plays. When they throw up a bad shot, we have to get the rebound and get out and run. I think we did that on the last few possessions.
On Demarcus Holland: Demarcus is a hard-nosed guy. He gets our defense going. We can depend on Demarcus for just defending the other team's best player, crashing the boards, getting the defensive rebound and creating plays for us. I think he's the x-factor to our team.
Senior Guard Javan Felix
On making back-to-back jump shots at the end of the game: Just staying aggressive. That is my role on the team. It's my job so I'm just going to stay aggressive and keep shooting, even when shots aren't falling.
On depth of the Big 12 Conference: Everybody is good in our league. You know, you have to put your best foot forward every day in practice and come out and translate that to the game no matter who you are playing.
Senior Center Prince Ibeh
On being a focal point of the offense early on: The emphasis of our team is to play inside out. It just makes the game easier.
Kansas State Head Coach Bruce Weber
Opening Statement: Another tough loss for us. Our kids came with great focus after the double overtime loss to West Virginia. We got off to a little slow start. I think we rushed some things early and then settled down and our bench did a great job when Texas' [Isaiah] Taylor got into foul trouble. We had four-straight shut outs, took the lead at halftime, and then continued it after halftime. I thought that Justin Edwards really came back. He has really struggled and he came back and stepped it up for us, made some plays, and we kept the lead. It just seemed that the ball would be going our way, we would miss a shot, get a tip in, or do something, but down the stretch they made the shots and we didn't get the stops. We were up four at the 7-minute to 4-minute mark, but we had some real bad possessions with some unforced turnovers. We went to Justin a couple times and then he got stuck in the air. Barry [Brown] rushed the fast break when we didn't have anything there. There were a couple other things, but it would help to jump up and make some shots. You go 3-for-19 back-to-back games from three and they go 6-for-23, so we did a good job defending them, but they made two big ones down the stretch and we don't step up and make some shots down the stretch. You can use all the excuses. I have told the kids since Saturday, we are young, we are new, we play hard, all that stuff, but we can't accept losing. We've got to go earn victories and it doesn't get any easier because you go to No. 1 Oklahoma on Saturday.
On execution on the last play: I have to give [Texas] credit, they switched it. We were coming off a ball screen. We had Stephen Hurt spacing, and Barry had just banked one in and he has been our best three-point shooter as of late. We were trying him or Dean [Wade], a pick and pop if they weren't going to foul, or drive down and get Stephen if the big guy is inside, but they switched it. We got one off, maybe a second one off the tip off. I guess it just wasn't a good enough play with good enough execution. Defense does that. They made stops on the stretch and we didn't.
On digging yourself out of the hole but not being able to close: It's just getting that experience, learning to make that shot go down. [Kamau Stokes] has been pretty good, but he hasn't shot it well as of late and the only thing I know is to get in the gym and work on shooting. But they have given us great effort, coachable, and all the things you ask. We are a good team, and now how can we become a very good team. That's the very big question.
Kansas State players
Freshman Guard Barry Brown
On last shot: I was just looking to get the three off. I figured that since he was a bigger man that he wasn't good at defending around the perimeter, so I tried to hesitate him and shoot it.
On difference in winning and losing: Just small things, like a missed free throw or a turnover late in the game. Just things that you overlook that come back to haunt you in the end.
Senior Guard Justin Edwards
On wanting to finish the game: It is frustrating, because we fight hard, and we are in every single game. I don't think a team has ever really beat us outright. We fought the whole time, so not coming up with the win is just frustrating. But we will get back in the gym. We will be there. We will learn how to finish our games and be strong.
On what keeps you in games when you aren't shooting very well: Our defense. We know our match ups. I say we did our defensive principles for about 35 and then the last five minutes of the game is when people's defense starts to break down. When the defense breaks down is when people really start to get the runs, but I think our defense has been great so far this year. We have to get better obviously, but yeah, it's our defense.
