The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
10-19, 4-12
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Kansas
26-3, 14-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 40 | 37 | 77 |
| Texas | 31 | 36 | 67 |
Men’s Basketball falls at home to No. 3/3 Kansas, 77-67
02.25.2017 | Men's Basketball
Freshman forward Jarrett Allen records 11th double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
AUSTIN, Texas – Freshman forward Jarrett Allen recorded his 11th double-double with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, but Texas Basketball fell to No. 3/3 Kansas, 77-67, at the Frank Erwin Center on Saturday evening.
Freshman guard Andrew Jones posted a career-high 18 points while hitting 8-of-16 field goals, and sophomore guard Kerwin Roach Jr. contributed nine points and a game-high six assists. Texas (10-19, 4-12 Big 12 Conference) shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the floor during the contest.
Kansas (26-3, 14-2 Big 12 Conference) jumped to an early 9-2 lead, but the Longhorns steadily chipped away at the deficit and claimed their first lead of the game (20-19) following an Allen dunk with 10:53 remaining in the half. The Jayhawks answered with a 12-0 run capped by two Dwight Coleby free throws at the 7:08 mark to lead 31-20.
Kansas extended its cushion to 40-27 after a dunk from Coleby with 2:00 remaining in the half. Jones sank a jumper and senior forward Shaquille Cleare converted a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to nine (40-31) going into halftime.
The Longhorns drew within five (56-51) following a Jacob Young 3-pointer with 10:39 to play, but Kansas outscored Texas 8-1 over a two-minute span to retake its double-digit lead (64-52) with 8:40 left. The Jayhawks held the lead above nine points for the remainder of the contest.
Kansas freshman Josh Jackson led four Jayhawks in double-figure scoring with 18 points. Senior guard Frank Mason III added 16 points, while senior center Landen Lucas posted a team-high eight rebounds.
Texas will face Texas Tech in its final Big 12 Conference road matchup of the regular season on Wednesday, March 1. Tip is set for 8 p.m. Central at United Supermarkets Arena, and the contest will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
#3/3 Kansas 77, Texas 67
February 25, 2017
Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)
Attendance: 14,111
Team Notes
- UT dropped to 8-29 in the all-time series against the Jayhawks. Kansas improved to 9-6 in games played in Austin in the series. The Jayhawks have won seven consecutive games against Texas.
- The Longhorns fell to 487-118 all-time in home games at the Frank Erwin Center. The Horns dropped to 215-35 at the Erwin Center in the last 15 seasons (since start of the 2002-03 season). Texas fell to 10-6 this season and 24-9 at home in the Shaka Smart era.
- Today's contest marked the first Big 12 home game this season for the Longhorns that was NOT decided by 4 points or less (previous 7 home league contests were decided by that margin).
- UT recorded a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points.
- Kansas posted a 28-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Recorded a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) for the 11th time this season (29 games), including the seventh time in Big 12 play (16 games).
- Topped the 20-point mark for the third time this year (all three times in Big 12 play).
- Reached double figures in scoring for the 22nd time this season and 15th time in Big 12 play (16 games).
- Reached double figures in rebounds for the 12th time this year.
- In two games against Kansas this year, Allen recorded a combined 42 points and 30 rebounds (12 offensive). He averaged 21.0 ppg and 15.0 rpg against the Jayhawks in the two meetings.
- Reached double figures in scoring (18 points) for the 19th time this year (29 games).
- Set a career high in scoring. Previous high was 17 (three times).
- Set a career high in field goals made (8-16). Previous high was 6 (four times).
POSTGAME QUOTES
TEXAS
Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart
On getting behind and then coming back during the game: That was definitely our best stretch. Against Kansas, you have to be aggressive and we were just too timid to start the game. We got into a stretch where we got some aggressiveness going. We actually stole the ball from them a couple times in the full court, but we didn't sustain that level of aggressiveness. Obviously, they're a really good team. They deserve a lot of credit for shots they made and plays they made, but if you want to win games like that, you have to go at people."
On what he has to do to keep team's attitude up despite losing season: A lot of our guys feel that and understand that and they want to win. Still, playing hard is the first step. The next step is understanding what the right play is to make. I thought we got out of sorts offensively today, getting away from what we practiced doing in the first half. That allowed them to go on the run that they went on.
But to your question, we try to keep breathing life into these guys and helping them understand that their best basketball that they can play is ahead of them, but it's not that far ahead of them. If we can come together as a group and if those guys can work to really make each other and the plan we have their essential focus, that gives us the best chance. It doesn't give us a win, but it gives you a better chance.
On who is breathing life into him during losing season: Nobody really. It's about the guys. As you mentioned, this is uncharted territory for me, but I think you've got to make it about two things. One, try to help guys understand what's going to go into the team's success and their own success. And then the second thing is building a culture of what goes into what you want on a daily basis on and off the court, in practice, in the weight room. I think we've made some progress on the second one that isn't always evident on the court. It will be, it's just a matter of when. But to your point, we want to win games.
On if he felt like Texas could cut the lead when they were within six points: I think we were within five when Jacob hit a three. I don't know, it was maybe eight minutes left, right around there. To be honest, you're going to have a group of guys that really stick their chests out and believe in themselves and each other at a very, very high level in the moment in order to be in that situation and create what we all want to create, which is a win. I didn't think our spirit was good enough at that point and then obviously, Kansas made some really good plays. Josh Jackson attacked. They got some big rebounds and they extended the lead.
Freshman forward Jarrett Allen
On what Texas needs to do to compete on the same level as Kansas: It's just playing hard every minute of the game. Sometimes we can drop our heads, but with Kansas you can see that they're into it the whole game. That's what we've got to do.
On how Texas head coach Shaka Smart is handling the team: I think that he's handling it fantastic. For anybody, a losing season is going to be hard, but he's keeping everybody's spirits up. It's phenomenal.
On the best things that Texas did in the game: I think the best thing we did, was that we could have got down on ourselves after the slow start and gave up on the game. But we still fought.
Freshman guard Andrew Jones
On what Texas needs to do to get better: Get in the gym. This summer, we've just got to get ourselves improving our game every day so we can compete and win games like this one against Kansas. Right now we're a good team, but we don't play hard. So once we build a chemistry, you use all these games as learning experiences. We're going to be a better team.
On Texas not clicking through stretches of the game: We've just got to grow. We've got to learn, got to want to do it. We've got to follow coach's plan and we've got to learn to trust each other more and go out and play for the whole game.
KANSAS
Head Coach Bill Self
On the game: Our energy level was really good early. I thought we played really well early. Then it went away. I thought the first half we played a really good 15 minutes and they played a great five minutes. Then the second half, we kind of traded baskets the whole time, but it was pretty workmanlike. It was a nice win, but I don't think that either team played with unbelievable energy. But I thought both teams played hard.
On his team playing lethargic: I thought today would be the hardest game we would have this year as far as our energy level, not being a knock--these guys have been on such an emotional rollercoaster for a couple months, so you would think sooner or later they would crash. We talked about that, and they came out and they didn't crash, but they had just enough juice to get to the finish line.
On Jarrett Allen: We should be the one mad at him since he picked Texas over us. He shouldn't be mad at us, we didn't do anything, but I think he is great. I thought in recruiting, he would be a great player, and then when we saw him earlier in the season I thought he would be a really good player by the end of the year. I'm not predicting what's going to happen, but whenever he comes out, this kid is a lottery pick. He's got huge hands, he's got a touch, I love his game, and I know other people do as well.
Junior forward Dwight Coleby
On if he knew he'd play as much as he did: I had no idea it was going to happen this game.
On how he dealt with playing so many minutes: I was just focusing ahead of time on the scouting report, getting prepared for the game and getting ready to contribute.
On if this game felt different than others where he played well: Yeah, definitely. [I had] More confidence in playing and I just keep working and hopefully I get better.
Junior guard Devonte' Graham
On not allowing this to be a letdown game after clinching Big 12 last week: That was just the main focus, to not come out flat, because we didn't want to share the Big 12 title. We wanted to come here and win it outright. The line today that coach preached was to come in, focus with energy and get the job done."
On what he thought of Dwight's game: He played great. I'm real happy for him. He hasn't been playing as much this year with his knee and stuff, but he's been working hard with treatment and rehab and stuff like that. His number was called today and he performed.
On if Dwight's performance surprised him: I don't think it was a surprise. We see everything in practice and he's playing hard going in for Landen and Carlton, so we see it in practice and today he got to show it.
On how much the team needs the bench players: We need them. We need every single one of us. It's going to be huge, especially in the tournament like I said, and you never know who it's going to be and who's going to get that energy. But they've got to be prepared when their numbers are called.
