(Photo courtesy of Ann Williamson/The Capital-Journal)
Austin, TX
The lead was 14-8 by Texas early in the first half when KU went on a 22-0 run to overtake the Longhorns and never looked back. The only things that went wrong for the Jayhawks was a dislocated finger for Marcus Morris, who finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds, and a technical foul on Cole Aldrich late in the second half. Other than that, smooth sailing. With Texas coming into the game losing 4 of their last six, the luster had worn a bit, but make no mistake about it, this was a huge win for KU. At 23-1 overall and 9-0 in the conference, Kansas is sitting a great position to emerge as the favorite to win the title in April.
Texas was led by Damion James in the first half with 15 points on 3-3 shooting from behind the arc. James would finish with 24 points and one big headache. The suppporting cast for Texas was almost non-existent until midway through the second half, when J’Covan Brown became the Horns only offense. His 28 points accounted for all of Texas’ bench points on what was believed to be one of the deepest teams in the country. Pittman was absent on the offensive end, Avery Bradley was subpar in every way, and Dogus Balbay was Dogus Balbay.
Kansas, however, continued to be led by the one guy who has progressed more than any other Jayhawk, and maybe as much as anyone in the country, Marcus Morris. Sherron Collins was average at best, and this is a good thing. For KU to win handily, and Collins not be its top scorer says a lot about KU’s depth. Aldrich was himself on defense with 6 blocks, Xavier Henry was more confident than in recent weeks and finished with 15 points, and Brady Morningstar had a performance that he will remember the rest of his life, but not in a good way.
