Texas Outplays Kansas for Big 12 Tournament Championship, 76-56

Without Kevin McCullar and Bill Self, the Jayhawks had no answer for the Longhorns.

As good as Kansas looked in the first two games of the Big 12 Tournament, it was completely steamrolled in the second half of the championship game as it fell to Texas 76-56.

Each team was down a starter as Timmy Allen (lower leg) and Kevin McCullar (back) were out. Joseph Yesufu started in place of McCullar and came out firing. After a couple of turnovers, Yesufu hit a long jumper for Kansas’ first points. Then he found Jalen Wilson for a wide-open three. Yesufu and WIlson each had seven points early. Meanwhile, Dylan Disu had the first four points for Texas and had six early but picked up his second foul and spent much of the first half on the bench.

After a back-and-forth start, Texas went on a 9-0 run to go up 19-13 as Kansas struggled to communicate and play screens on defense. Yesufu ended the drought with a three and then Wilson answered with one of his own. He took over the last 10 minutes of the half and had 17 in the first 20 minutes.

Gradey Dick didn’t score his first two points until after the under-eight timeout to put KU up three, but the Longhorns would go on another run, this time 10-0, and looked to be pulling away at 35-28. But again it was Wilson and Yesufu leading an 8-0 run for Kansas to cut the lead to two. But turnovers by the Jayhawks and a clutch shot by Marcus Carr gave Texas a 39-33 lead at half.

Carr then picked up where he left off and opened the second half with a jumper, giving Texas its largest lead. Dick answered with a jumper for just his fourth point. Both teams exchanged buckets in the first four minutes, scoring a combined 18 points as Texas held an eight-point lead.

Disu picked up his third foul with 15 minutes to go and Texas up eight and had to sit. Yesufu missed a three and Carr didn’t, putting Texas up double digits. Harris really struggled, with three turnovers in 27 minutes. And Kansas couldn’t score. It went five minutes without a basket before Adams got a put-back on a Wilson miss.

Harris’ first two points came with 10 minutes left and KU down 55-45. Texas continued its lead at 62-48 when Dick knocked down a jumper. But the Kansas defense didn’t show up and it was too easy for the Longhorns. It would only get worse. An Arterio Morris alley-oop dunk gave Texas a 20-point lead with 4:34 left to play.

Wilson and Yesufu were the only two Jayhawks in double figures. Wilson had 24 and six while Yesufu scored 11 points. Adams, Dick, and Harris each had six points and Harris had an uncharacteristic four turnovers. Kansas shot just 41% from the field and 23.5% from three.

This was just the fourth game this season where Harris has had four turnovers, and Kansas has lost all four. But for those freaking out, in the last six times Kansas made the Final Four, the Jayhawks lost in the Big 12 Tournament. This doesn't mean KU's hopes are dashed. 

The outcome doesn’t really impact the Jayhawks. Kansas is still going to be a No. 1 seed and should earn the Midwest region over Houston, regardless of the loss.