With a week of rest, Kansas basketball looked very refreshed at Allen Fieldhouse, dominating the Texas Longhorns.
The Jayhawks built momentum early and didn’t look back, going on a 31-12 run in the final 12:20 of the first half to take a commanding 20-point halftime lead. They didn’t look back, maintaining the lead throughout the second half to cruise to an easy 86-67 victory. Read below for three takeaways from today’s Big 12 showdown.
Takeaway #1: Jayhawks dominate the paint
Kansas basketball isn’t necessarily the best three-point shooting squad, so having a strong paint presence against the opponent is essential for a victory. Kansas did that on Saturday, outscoring Texas by 18 points in the paint, and doing so on 60% shooting. Both KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson had little difficulty getting the shots they wanted, and even the guards were able to get points in the paint through driving and cutting.
If they can establish a paint presence early in games, that will allow the perimeter to expand and lead to open shots. Hopefully, for the Jayhawks, they can continue to control the paint, because when they do, good things happen.
Takeaway #2: Texas’ go-to scorers nonexistent
The combination of Max Abmas and Dylan Disu has been crucial for Texas’ success this season. One of the two has led the team in scoring in the past eight games, and with the rest of the starters not being go-to scoring options, it has been enough for them to win games in conference play.
Today, both were nonexistent, with Disu scoring 8 points on 3-6 shooting and Abmas scoring just 5 points on 2-8 shooting. Texas hasn’t won a game in conference play when one of the two scores under 10 points in a game, and that remains the case today. There is no path to victory for Texas if both of these players are cold, and that was apparent today for the Longhorns.
Takeaway #3: Nicholas Timberlake brings a much-needed boost
Timberlake has been a pain in the side of Kansas basketball for most of the year, but the Jayhawks understand that if they want to be a championship contender, they need to see the Timberlake at Towson from a year ago. He brought the energy early and often, hitting a three early on and then finishing a monster alley-oop slam to get both his team and the crowd going. He finished the game with 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists for the Jayhawks.
He won’t play 32 minutes every game, especially once Kevin McCullar returns from injury, but if they can get double-digit scoring and this energy on both ends of the floor every night, the Jayhawks’ ceiling will rise even higher. With Bill Self announcing that the Jayhawks won’t rush McCullar back before the NCAA Tournament, this could be a perfect time for Timberlake to build chemistry and be an impact player in the tournament.
Next Game for Kansas: vs. BYU (Feb. 27 – 8 p.m.)
Next Game for Texas: at Texas Tech (Feb. 27 – 9 p.m.)