Texas came out flat against Kansas Monday night, and it showed. The Jayhawks jumped out to a 15-0 lead and never looked back, handing the Longhorns a 86-56 loss on Senior Night.
Here are five thoughts from the loss.
Tale of two shooting percentages
Kansas made just about every shot it put up, while the Longhorns couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.
The Jayhawks finished hitting 64 percent of their shots, knocking down 12 of their first 17 to open up an early 28-9 lead. Kansas also hit 11-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc.
“We didn’t come out and guard — just plain and simple,” senior guard Javan Felix said.
The Longhorns, on the other hand, ended up shooting 30.2 percent from the field and making a grand total of three 3-pointers.
Perry Ellis lights up the Longhorns, again
The Longhorns will likely be glad to see Kansas senior guard Perry Ellis graduate after this season.
After putting up 26 points in the first meeting back on Jan. 23, Ellis led the Jayhawks with 20 points, including scoring eight of the Jayhawks’ 12 points at one point in the first half to put them up 28-9.
“He’s a good player,” senior center Prince Ibeh said. “He causes problems in the offense they run.”
Amped crowd shows up for disappointing game
Despite the blowout, the energy both in and out of the Erwin Center before the game was as good as, if not better than, it has been been in recent memory.
Students started lining up outside the arena around five hours before tip-off to get inside. By the time the doors opened, the line stretched halfway around the building.
The pregame was filled with its normal pomp and circumstance, though the pyrotechnics were amped up, and the crowd noise right before tip-off felt like a continuation of the 22-0 run against Oklahoma on Saturday.
By the time the game hit the halfway mark of the second half, a large part of the third-straight sellout crowd of 16,450 had hit the road early.
Felix’s final game in Austin
There weren’t too many highlights for the Longhorns on Monday night, but Felix had a decent performance in his last home game.
The New Orleans native scored the Longhorns’ first points of the game at the 13:27 mark of the first half. He finished with a team-high 13 points.
Short memory needed
While the blowout loss on Senior Night stings, the Longhorns will need a short memory to keep the one loss from turning into a slump.
Texas travels to Oklahoma State on Friday night for the regular season finale, which won’t necessarily be the easiest task. Despite their 8–7 home record, the Cowboys haven’t been an easy out at home, beating Kansas by 19 in January and almost pulling off upsets of Oklahoma, Baylor and Iowa State.
Up Next: at Oklahoma State, Friday, 8 p.m., ESPN2, 104.9 FM
