The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
9-4, 0-1
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Kansas
11-2, 1-0
Men's Basketball edged by No.11/11 Kansas in Big 12 opener, 92-86
12.29.2017 | Men's Basketball
Freshman forward Mohamed Bamba registered 22 points and 15 rebounds and set a UT freshman single-game record with eight blocks.
AUSTIN, Texas – – Freshman forward Mohamed Bamba set a Texas freshman single-game record with eight blocks, but Texas Men's Basketball fell to No. 11/11 Kansas, 92-86, on Friday night at the Frank Erwin Center in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. Bamba also recorded career highs with 22 points and 15 rebounds, shooting 9-of-16 from the field while recording his fifth double-double of the season.
Junior forward Dylan Osetkowski netted 17 points and brought down eight rebounds, while freshman guard Matt Coleman added 17 points, five assists and matched a season high with six boards. Junior guard Kerwin Roach II contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and junior guard Eric Davis Jr. notched a season-high 12 points while converting 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
The Longhorns outscored Kansas 42-26 in the paint and held a 23-16 advantage in second chance opportunities.
Bamba converted a traditional three-point play with 12:36 remaining in the first half as Texas held an early 11-9 lead behind nine points from him on 4-of-5 shooting. The Jayhawks used an 11-2 spurt over a four-minute stretch to gain an eight-point (25-17) advantage at the 9:29 mark. Texas responded with a 17-7 run to regain the lead at 34-32 with three minutes to play in the first half. KU recorded the final five points of the half to take a 37-34 advantage into the break.
Bamba led the Longhorns with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, eight boards and four blocks in the first half. Roach added nine points and four rebounds.
Kansas connected on back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second period to open a double-digit (51-41) lead with 16:17 remaining. Six-straight points from the Longhorns brought Texas within six (67-61) at the 10:02 mark.
The Longhorns trailed by just five with 6:14 to play after a pair of free throws from Davis Jr., but the Jayhawks utilized a 11-2 run to pull ahead 83-69 with under four minutes to play in regulation.
Davis Jr. recorded eight straight points to bring UT within 86-80 with 37 seconds remaining. A Coleman tip-in on the next possession trimmed the deficit to four (86-82), but Kansas hit six free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.
Texas was 13-of-14 (92.9%) from the charity line in the second half and 81 percent (17-of-21) for the game.
Devonte' Graham paced Kansas with 23 points, while Lagerald Vick (21) and Svi Mykhailiuk (20) also topped the 20-point mark. The Jayhawks converted 17-of-35 from three-point range as a team on the night.
The Longhorns continue Big 12 play on Monday, Jan. 1 at Iowa State. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT at Hilton Coliseum, and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
#11/11 Kansas 92, Texas 86
December 29, 2017
Frank Erwin Center
Attendance: 15,802
Team Notes
- Texas dropped to 8-30 all-time against Kansas. The Jayhawks have won the last eight meetings in the series.
- The Longhorns fell to 17-5 all-time in Big 12 Conference home openers and 14-8 in Big 12 openers.
- UT fell to 493-121 all-time in games at the Erwin Center. Texas dropped to 221-38 at the Erwin Center in the last 16 seasons (dating to the start of the 2002-03 season). UT is 30-12 at home during the Shaka Smart era (6-2 this season).
- Texas posted a 42-26 advantage in points in the paint and a 23-16 margin in second-chance points.
- Set career highs in points (22), rebounds (15), blocked shots (8) and field goals made (9-16) in 34 minutes
- His 8 blocks set a UT freshman single-game record (previous: 7 by Tristan Thompson vs. Oakland on March 18, 2011; 7 by Chris Mihm at Oklahoma State on Feb. 24, 1998; 7 by Chris Mihm at North Texas on Nov. 22, 1997)
- His 8 blocks were one shy of the UT single-game mark (9 by Cameron Ridley vs. Appalachian State on Dec. 15, 2015)
- Has tallied 14 blocks over the last two games (a UT record for a two-game stretch)
- Registered his fifth double-double of the season (12 games)
- Topped the 20-point mark for the first time in his collegiate career
- Reached double figures in points for the eighth time this year
- Has registered at least 4 blocks in 11 of his first 12 games and at least 2 blocks in all 12 contests
- Reached double figures in scoring (17 points) for the fifth time this year (13 games)
- Tied his season high in rebounds (6), field goals made (7-14) and three-pointers made (3-5)
- Reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the third time this year (11 games) and 26th time in his career (77 games)
- Set a career high in free throws made (6-6)
- Reached double figures in scoring (17 points) for the 11th time this season (13 games)
- Reached double figures in scoring (13 points) for the ninth time this year (13 games) and 35th time in his career (78 games)
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS
Head Coach Shaka Smart
On the takeaways from the game: It's all about us controlling what we can control. There are a lot of things in that game that we can look at and say, "Hey, we can do this better, we can do that better." Now if we do it absolutely to the best of our ability and the guy throws one in, we'll live with that, but we always say to our team, "They're not going to beat us with those. They can't make enough of those to beat us." But a team like Kansas, if you get a half step off or lose energy for a stretch of a minute or two, they make you pay and they can beat you with those, and they did.
On the performance of Bamba: I thought he played really well. We ask him to do so much, but I thought his defense in the first half around the basket was terrific. In the second half, he got a little tired defending (Kansas center Udoka) Azubuike, who's a really good player, but he blocked shots all night long. He rebounded all night long. He got offensive rebounds. I think he's making progress. For us to get him 16 shots is big. We want to get him more and more, but obviously, we need more from everyone else.
On how the offense performed today: I think when we score points in the paint, create scoring from our defense--any time we can turn the other team over--we are doing our job. (Kansas) did a good job, for the most part, against the press. I know there were a couple (where) we had them struggle. We stole one, but for the most part, they did a pretty good job against it. But definitely (today's game was) a blueprint; 16 shots for Mo. We want Dylan (Osetkowski) to get a lot of shots, and we want him to be more aggressive like he was in the second half.
Freshman Guard Matt Coleman
On having the best three-point defense in the league prior to this game: They tested us. They got a few open looks. They knocked down a couple hands to the face. They had it going. I give them a lot of credit, a lot of respect. They shot the ball very well, making 17 threes.
On how the team preps to make shots and respond to an offensive team like Kansas: One, you've got to defend. Defend at the three-point line and on the opposite end. Our strength is just getting out of transition on the floor. And I don't think we made fast-break points that we needed to, but they hit shots, so it was kind of hard for us to get out of transition. If you need to knock down shots, we keep saying it's a rhetorical statement, but when you're not hitting shots, you've got to find other things to be successful with.
Freshman Forward Mohamed Bamba
On how tough it was to deal with Kansas' three-pointers: It was super tough. That was probably one of the best three-point exhibitions, if you want to call it that, I've ever seen in my life. They caught fire and it was kind of hard to defend even when you've got a hand up, even when you close out as hard as you do. It definitely shifted the energy of the game, but we came down and tried to make plays ourselves and we just kept closing it and closing it. That's just something we need to work on, is having responses to things like that.
On his performance tonight: I guess it was a good effort, but it really wasn't enough. There are tons of possessions out there where I can go back and say, "I wish I'd done this, I wish I'd done that." That's something we're going to look at on film tomorrow and just to continue getting better at. I'm not necessarily too satisfied with this game. It's just one performance.
On if the game has slowed down for him the past few games: The only thing that's probably making it easier is that these guys are making it much easier for me, both offensively and defensively. These guys are really staying in front of their guys and they're putting it to a way where they're leading them to a spot and forcing them to put the ball up, and then it's exposing it to me. I'm just doing my job. It's really just a domino effect and I'm glad I have these guys.
Junior Guard Kerwin Roach II
On if Kansas felt overwhelming: It just a feeling that you've got to respond, you can't just really dwell on, because they're going to mess around and hit another three when they get the ball back. So you've just got to be ready to close out. High hands. That's it.
On grading the defensive performance: I give us like a B, I'd have to say. There were just a few transitions where, No. 10, at the beginning of the second half when they got him going, he hit like six of them, five of them, after that. They just got him going. We can't just let little lapses like that happen again. As you can see, he hit like six in a row after that. Little things like that we just have to capitalize and fix and just can't let happen against Kansas.
On if the game is a reminder that everyone has to contribute: Yeah definitely. Everyone has to do their job. That's the case for any team. Mo did an excellent job today defending inside and protecting the rim and the paint. All the guards need to do a better job just closing out on the defensive end and fulfilling their job and we'll be good.
KANSAS
Head Coach Bill Self
On using zone defense: We just tried to use it the first half when we just knew they had rhythm. Then we just kind of stayed into it except late clock situations. I think we played some pretty much the rest of the game except for late clock situations on the side, out of bounds, or out of bounds under, and then the first two or three minutes of the second half. But we played primarily zone.
On making 17 three-pointers: We've shot great at home and awful at home. We've shot great on the road and awful on the road. It seems like we played with the same ball for the last two games. There were some things that probably fell our way to give us an opportunity to maybe shoot it better, but we played pretty well as a team.
On if the win was gritty: When you make 17 threes, I don't know if you can call it gritty when you do that. We didn't rebound the ball very well. We did some things not very well scout report-wise, but we competed hard. I thought our kids really competed hard. I thought Devonte (Graham) had great command of the game and Lagerald (Vick) may have been the best player in the game besides Bamba. For Svi (Mykhailiuk), the second half was unreal.
Kansas guard Devonte Graham
On if shooting was part of the game plan: Definitely… Coach has been on us about passing up shots and always staying aggressive. The day we flew out here and had practice, he told us that when we're open, we got to shoot the ball. Before the game, he said we got to be aggressive early in the shot clock and have confidence in ourselves and each other.
On if Bamba affected their game plan: Man he blocked everything it seemed like. A couple of them seemed questionable, but he definitely went up there and got them, so it was tough to get in the paint and make floaters or get a layup. We were not getting any layups down there.
Kansas guard Svi Mykhailiuk
On what they did in the second half: I think it was just getting stops and making easy baskets and getting back in transition. By the end of the game, we really slowed down.
On if they planned to shoot so many threes: Kind of. Like Devonte was saying, Coach had given us the job to take open shots and today we just shot it. Like a lot. Like 35 times. We just started shooting.
