#12 Texas Upsets #2 Kansas State

The #12 University of Texas Longhorns never looked back as they defeated the #2 Kansas State University Jayhawks by a final score of 61-to-54.  The win was Texas’ third consecutive and second straight over a top 15 opponent.  Texas improves to 8-3 in the Big 12 in a four-team logjam near the top of the league.

“On a day that wasn’t our best, it still was good enough to win and beat the number 2 in the country,” said Texas head coach Vic Schaefer.    “We certainly didn’t close the game out right  today, like we’d like to.” 

The Longhorn’s offensive performance was acceptable, not great, hitting 41% from the field, 25% from distance and 71% from the charity stripe. The biggest red flag was the 15 turnovers committed by Texas. 

“I was pretty frustrated with my offense, to be honest with you, in the first half.  I couldn’t get us to where we wanted to.  Then I though we made some really god adjustments coming out of the locker room at half time.  I though the kids were special, offensively, in the third quarter,” said Schaefer. 

Texas’s Madison Booker’s performance was off in the first half, prompting Schaefer to sit the freshman, allowing her re-group.   Booker returned to the court in the second half to finish the game with 20 points, six assists and three rebounds.  The performance was Booker’s third consecutive with 20 points or more, and her seventh 20+ game of the season. 

“The person in the first half, it wasn’t me.  I just had to lock in the second half.  I had to forget about what happened in the first half.  I had to come back and lead my team,” commented Booker on her performance. 

Texas extended their lead 47-to-35 in the third quarter, leading by as many as 19 points midway through the frame. 

The Longhorn’s lead look comfortable until the final quarter when the Jayhawks went on a 10-point scoring run late in the game and came within five points.  But Aaliyah Moore’s shooting from the free throw line iced the game for Texas. 

The Longhorns limited the Jayhawks to 20 points below their season scoring average.  Kansas State converted on 36% of the attempts from the field, only 14% (3-for-21) and 65% from the charity stripe. 

“I thought our defense was solid, for the most part.  Again, you hold somebody to 54 points, you better win,” said Schaefer.    

“Most freshmen that struggle in the first half don’t always have the mental maturity to recover from that, and especially with all the things they’ve asked her to do differently than what they thought she might be doing,” said Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie. “So, I’m really impressed with her game, really impressed with the tough shots that she hit. She’s kind of got an old-school game to her. Her midrange jumper is so good.” 

Texas’s Moore led all players with 15 rebounds, tying a career high.  Moore added 10 points for her seventh consecutive double-points game and the double-double. 

Commenting on the fourth quarter surge by Kansas State, Moore said, “I think we just had too many mental lapses.  That we weren’t having in the beginning of the game.”