Monday was the night Texas’ three forwards, all with different backgrounds from different parts of the country, formed a burnt-orange bulldozer that ran over No. 8 Kansas in a thrilling 79-76 win.
Kansas players knew Tre Mitchell was versatile and “could kind of shoot,” forward David McCormack said. The UMass transfer was 0-for-5 from 3-point range until he banked in one of the biggest long-distance shots of the night with 55 seconds left.
“That’s his best H-O-R-S-E shot,” Texas coach Chris Beard said.
To which Kansas coach Bill Self quipped, “I don’t know that Chris drew up a play to bank in a 3. If he did, he’s a hell of a basketball coach.”
The Jayhawks were well aware of Timmy Allen’s elbow jumper. He perfected it at Utah. With the outcome hanging in the balance with 21 seconds left, it was deadly.
“We knew he had a solid mid-range game, and he was just real crafty as an offensive player,” McCormack said.
And Kansas knew to watch out for Christian Bishop, who gobbled up rebounds at Creighton and now gives Texas extra chances.
“It’s funny because when we first met each other,” Allen said, “he told me that he does a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score.”
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Allen’s game-high 24 points, Mitchell’s 17 points and Bishop’s 10 rebounds were the driving statistical forces as No. 20 Texas captured a nifty Big 12 upset. UT students in the electric crowd of 14,688 stormed the Erwin Center floor and belted out “The Eyes of Texas” with enthusiasm not seen in the basketball arena in ages.
Believe it or not: Texas (18-6, 7-4 Big 12) now has a three-game winning streak over Kansas (19-4, 8-2) on the basketball court for the first time in school history.
Texas fans should direct some of their applause to Courtney Ramey. The Texas guard drew a rough assignment in guarding Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji. The Jayhawks’ super scoring machine finished with a measly 11 points, two via free throws.
The Acie Law IV-Kevin Durant battle in 2007 probably still holds the top spot as far as noise generation goes. It sure got rowdy when Blake Griffin’s Oklahoma Sooners came to Austin in 2008 and ’09. Monday night was right up there, though.
Beard didn’t want to call this his first signature win at Texas, but it mostly certainly was.
“I don’t want to be like Debbie Downer,” Beard said. “I just think we have a higher ceiling. I think we can make six or seven threes tonight.”
“Expectations are everything,” Beard added. “I didn’t get into this to make the NCAA Tournament. I got in this to win this. I hope when this is all said and done, the players will look back and be like, ‘Hey, man, he was crazy, but he always had a ceiling for me that maybe I didn’t even know I could get to.’ To me that’s what coaching is.”
Coaching is demanding more from your best players. Like when Beard essentially blasted his frontcourt trio after the Iowa State loss in Ames for their nine combined turnovers. And coaching is picking the guys up when they’re down, like Beard did after the Texas Tech loss.
On Monday, it started with the first possession, when Allen found Bishop for a mid-range jumper. And the Horns never let up.
Allen ignited a 10-0 run that gave Texas a 21-18 lead. Mitchell scored 10 straight Texas points, including eight at the free throw line, by working his post moves and drawing fouls. Bishop got under Kansas guard Christian Braun’s skin early and spent the night doing all sorts of dirty work.
Self said the way Texas defended the 6-foot-10 McCormack, it made it difficult to get him the ball. Still, McCormack finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Kansas’ Jalen Wilson had a team-high 18 on 6-of-10 shooting.
“I thought Mitchell, to me, played in the post more early on to try to get fouls on David,” Self said. “I thought Christian was really aggressive trying to get fouls on David. And Allen played exactly how we thought he would play.”
Allen was 11-for-17 shooting and had nine rebounds in 30 minutes. It was without question his best game in burnt orange since transferring in from Utah.
“We did such a terrible job of putting any pressure on him,” Self said. “He felt no resistance, and that’s the thing that probably disappointed me. I thought he was the one that we defended the worst.”
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Same as he did last Saturday, Marcus Carr hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to send a shock wave through the Erwin Center crowd. But that didn’t really bother Kansas, as the visitors came out and hit nine of 12 shots to start the second half.
Ramey was busy playing defense, but he got a little frisky on offense, too. His baseline jumper, driving layup and scoop layup were critical as Texas tied things up at 67-67.
Two of Agbaji’s points came with 1:09 left when he came flying out of nowhere to tip in a missed layup. That bucket gave Kansas a four-point lead.
But Mitchell answered with his banked-in 3-pointer. On Kansas’ next possession, Agbaji turned it over when he lost the ball. Allen buried a 14-footer with 20.9 seconds left, giving Texas a 77-76 lead.
Then, Self drew up a play where he wanted McCormack to get the ball inside. Instead, Dajuan Harris drove on Carr and lost the handle. The ball went up in the air and bounced off the side of the backboard. Carr grabbed the loose ball, got fouled and calmly hit two free throws with 6.8 seconds left.
“I just drew something up and obviously it wasn’t very good,” Self said.
As it turned out, Texas closed the game on a 7-0 run. The Longhorns were 3-for-20 from 3-point range and still won. Kansas shot 58.3% overall against the nation’s No. 1-ranked scoring defense and still lost.
The Horns were plus-two on the glass and got 19 more shots, two key factors the way Beard figures it.
And on this night, the Horns were just better. The crowd was better. The Jayhawks tipped their collective cap. They’ll meet again on March 5 in Lawrence, Kan.
“You talk about Chris Beard getting a signature win,” Self said, “he’s going to have a ton of these wins while he’s here.”
Contact Brian Davis by phone or text at 512-445-3957. Email bdavis@statesman.com or @BDavisAAS.
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