Texas Longhorns at Kansas Jayhawks: Preview & Players to Watch

It's Senior Night for the Kansas Jayhawks, and the matchup is a big one. Here's a quick preview of the Texas Longhorns before today's game.

Contents

1. Overview
2. Players to Watch
3. Prediction

Kansas comes into this game with a streak of 38 consecutive wins on senior night. But Saturday, continuing that streak is definitely not the biggest thing on the line. If Baylor beats Iowa State Saturday evening, this will be a must-win game for Kansas. If Baylor wins and KU loses, the Jayhawks fall from their tie at the top of the Big 12 standings and miss out on a conference title. If KU wins, they lock up the one seed in the Big 12 Tournament and, more importantly, clinch a share of the conference title. Since Baylor plays later, Self and the Jayhawks won't know exactly what's on the line as they take the court to send off guys like Mitch Lightfoot, David McCormack, and Ochai Agbaji. They will, however, know that a win is vital for their league title hopes and maintaining a 1 seed come Selection Sunday. 

Overview

Round 1 against Texas was just under a month ago, and was among the most frustrating of KU's six losses. In Austin, the Jayhawks led for nearly the entire second half, and according to KenPom, had an 86% chance to win with about a minute to go. They were scoreless from that point on and allowed the Longhorns to walk away with a three point victory. 

One of the most frustrating things about the loss was just how good Kansas was offensively. They shot 39% from deep and 66% from two, and though they turned it over 20% of the time, they still managed to score 1.1 points per possession on a Chris Beard defense ranked 16th nationally by KenPom. Unfortunately the Jayhawk defense was brutal, allowing far too many points, and failing to defend well in crunch time. Texas was 3-20 (15%) from deep and still outscored the Jayhawks' effective offense. 

They did this by turning it over just 10% of the time, rebounding 38% of their missed shots, and getting to the line for 23 free throws, hitting 20 (87%). This is a very good rebounding team, and one that consistently draws fouls and shoots well at the stripe, so it's hard to write that one off as a fluke. Kansas needs to adjust and come out with a better gameplan this time, especially playing their 4th game in eight days, and coming off three consecutive poor performances, in which they went 1-2.

Players to Watch

Timmy Allen, 6'6 senior forward

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The Longhorns' leading scorer, Allen had a dagger of a bucket on his way to 24 points the first time these teams played. Not a great three point threat, but can be deadly inside the arc and rebounds well for his height.

Courtney Ramey, 6'3 senior guard

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Ramey isn't an elite shooter and scorer, but he's the top three point threat on the team (though still just 34%). Ramey is a solid defender and will generate backcourt steals as well.

Marcus Carr, 6'2 senior guard

© Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

Carr is more of a volume scorer, but attacks the basket well, hits 77% of his free throws, and can get hot from three. He's also a high pressure defender on the perimeter, like most of Texas' guards. 

Prediction

There's a lot riding on this game, and unfortunately that comes at a time when Kansas just isn't playing good basketball. The Longhorns would no doubt relish an opportunity to end KU's senior night streak, and since I don't see this Jayhawk team rising to any challenges lately, I think they'll do it and (possibly) cost Kansas their share of a Big 12 title. 

Texas 79, Kansas 71