No. 5 Longhorns Out of Comeback Magic, Succumb to No. 9 Kansas on Road

The Texas Longhorns found themselves down big once again in Monday's meeting with the Kansas Jayhawks. But despite another second-half rally, the Longhorns fell to the defending national champs at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Texas Longhorns haven't made things easy on themselves in Big 12 play, stringing together multiple comeback wins since conference play began this season.

Newly-ranked No. 5 Texas found itself in a similar situation against the defending national champs and No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse Monday night.

But despite tying things up in the second half after trailing by as many as 14, the Longhorns (19-5, 8-3) didn't have any comeback magic in them this time around, as Kansas (19-5, 7-4) pulled away in the final handful of minutes to top Texas 88-80.

Texas was led by Marcus Carr, who paced all scorers with 29 points while Timmy Allen (18 points) and Sir'Jabari Rice (12 points) were the only other Longhorns in double figures.

The Jayhawks were led by Gradey Dick (21 points), Dajaun Harris Jr. (17 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Kevin McCullar (16 points, six assists) all while Jalen Wilson, the Big 12's leading scorer, posted a season-low two points.

Kansas forced Texas into 15 turnovers, many of which came in the opening stages of the first half as the Jayhawks took a double-digit lead.

The Jayhawks had put together a 15-2 run to build a 30-16 edge with 8:57 to play in the first half after Dick hit an ankle-breaking step-back triple over Carr. But Allen came through when Texas needed it to avoid falling into a big hole, as he scored all 10 of his first-half points in the final 10 minutes to bring the Horns back within range.

A late triple before halftime from Carr cut Kansas' lead to 42-35. The fearless Longhorns clapped it up with one another as they trotted into the locker room. 

The Longhorns didn't let their quick-spurted momentum fade and outscored the Jayhawks 8-1 to start the second half before tying the game at 43-43.

Suddenly, another double-digit deficit had been erased, as Texas found itself back in a tight contest after it looked like things were going to get out of hand in the first half.

But still unable to snag their first lead while trailing 49-48, the Longhorns started getting sloppy with turnovers and transition defense again and allowed Kansas to go on a mini 9-2 run that was followed by an 11-4 run.

Trailing 71-60 after a dunk from Joseph Yesufu with 4:18 left, the Longhorns then leaned on Carr to orchestrate a potential comeback, as he scored 11 straight points for Texas in the closing minutes.

But this wasn't enough, as the Longhorns had to take a tough loss on the chin against a talented team on the road.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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