In its final game at the Moody Center this season, No. 9 Texas took on No. 3 Kansas. Before the top 10 matchup got underway, Dylan Disu, Marcus Carr, Timmy Allen, Sir’Jabari Rice and Christian Bishop were honored on senior night.

Out of the group of seniors and graduate students, Disu is the only one with a remaining year of eligibility, making this the others’ last game in front of their home crowd.

Although Texas gave up its chance to take home a share of the Big 12 regular season championship with the loss to No. 24 TCU, seeding for both the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments was on the line.

Rallying behind the roaring crowd, Texas got off to a hot start. Solid defensive possessions led to fast breaks. Carr collected two early assists on alley-oops to freshman forward Dillon Mitchell and sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter, sending the fans into a frenzy. Following the first media timeout, Carr hit an and-one, giving the Longhorns an early 9-2 lead.

Neither team shot the ball well from deep, but Hunter hit back-to-back triples to give Texas its biggest lead of the game, 28-16. The Iowa State transfer was tied for the lead for the Longhorns with nine points in the first half.

Going into the break with a 32-24 lead, Texas led in nearly every category, assists, forced turnovers and field-goal percentage amongst them. The Longhorns also held the Jayhawks to their second-lowest scoring first half of the season, proving how great of defense they were playing.

The Big 12’s leading scorer, junior forward Jalen Wilson, led the Jayhawks in scoring with 11 points in the first half, keeping Kansas in the game early.

Disu opened the second half with a post-up, becoming the final starter to get on the board. The Longhorns kept their foot on the gas as they played great defense and extended the lead to 15.

Texas maintained its lead throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Kansas kept fighting and cut the lead down to single digits on multiple occasions.

The Longhorns had an answer each time their lead was shortened. They continued to force Jayhawk turnovers and make clutch baskets on the other end. The free throw line also proved pivotal as Kansas committed one too many fouls early into the half, giving Texas the bonus quickly. The Longhorns finished 19-of-24 from the line.

Texas’ scoring simply overwhelmed Kansas. A dagger three from Hunter all but put the Jayhawks away for good. With just 44 seconds left, head coach Rodney Terry called a timeout to give the fans a chance to honor the seniors and graduate students who just completed their final game in Austin.

Allen, Carr, Disu, Bishop and Rice all exited amongst a standing ovation from the bolstering crowd as Texas sealed arguably its most impressive win of the season.

All of the aforementioned players came to play today. Each of them contributed at least six points, but Rice and Hunter stole the show, combining for 43 points.

“I thought (Rice) and Hunter controlled the game,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “Those two guys I thought were the two best players in the game for Texas.”

Throughout the season, the Moody Center proved to have a true home court advantage. The Longhorns finished the season with a 17-1 home record. Although it’s the last game for a while at “The Mood,” Texas still has work to do.

“We created a home court at the University of Texas,” Terry said after the game. “People know when they come into Moody, it’s going to be really hard to get a win.”

With the win, Texas finishes second in the Big 12, just one game behind Kansas. 

Texas will travel to Kansas City for the Big 12 tournament that starts Wednesday, giving the team just a couple of days to prepare for the postseason.

“There’s still a lot of basketball to be played,” Terry said.