Kansas Jayhawks vs Texas Longhorns Match Player Stats On Dec 29, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 29, 2017

AUSTIN, Texas -- Devonte' Graham scored 23 points and Lagerald Vick added 21 as No. 11 Kansas put on a 3-point shooting clinic to beat Texas 92-86 on Friday at the Frank Erwin Center in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.

The Longhorns (9-4, 0-1 Big 12) trailed 86-72 with three minutes remaining but Eric Davis Jr. scored the next eight points and Matt Coleman hit a put-back to get to within 86-82 with 22.7 seconds remaining. Kansas then got four free throws from Malik Newman to quell the Texas comeback.

Kansas (11-2, 1-0 Big 12) hit 17 of its 35 shots from beyond the arc and had more baskets from long distance than it did from inside the line (14) en route to its eighth straight win over the Longhorns. Graham had six of those threes, and Vick and Svi Mykhailiuk had five each, all of which proved too much for the Longhorns down the stretch.

Udoka Azubuike added 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Jayhawks while Newman also scored 13 points.

Mohamed Bamba paced Texas with 22 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Dylan Osetkowski and Coleman hit for 17 each, Kerwin Roach II added 13 points and Davis tallied 12, all in the second half.

Coleman's reverse layup at the 4:50 mark, which came after Bamba's fourth blocked shot of the first half, allowed the Longhorns to tie the game at 28.

Graham's 3-pointer with one minute to play in the half gave Kansas a 37-34 lead at halftime.

Bamba led all scorers at intermission with 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting -- two of the missed shots were on the same possession that ended up in a third shot on which he was fouled -- and eight rebounds.

The Jayhawks came out on fire from long distance in the first nine minutes of the second half, canning seven of their nine 3-pointers over that stretch to move to a 67-55 lead. But Texas refused to buckle, clawing back to 67-61 on four points by Osetkowski and a dunk by Bamba at the 10:02 mark.

NOTES: Kansas has won 13 straight Big 12 titles and a now has garnered a mindboggling 27 straight conference openers dating back to the 1991-92 season. The last time the Jayhawks lost a conference opener was at Oklahoma, 88-82, on Jan. 8, 1991. ... Texas G Andrew Jones (wrist) played for the first time since Dec. 5 and scored five points in nine minutes ... Kansas has won 60 all-time conference titles, which is more than any school in NCAA Division I history. Kentucky is next at 54 and Pennsylvania third at 37. ... Longhorns' coach Shaka Smart was assessed a technical foul with 3:43 remaining and Kansas leading 81-69, his first since Feb. 20, 2017 at West Virginia. ... The Jayhawks now lead the all-time series with Texas with 30 wins in 38 games and has won four straight times in Austin.