Kansas vs Texas Preview/LIVE Stream: Jayhawks Host Longhorns Protecting Slim Big 12 Lead
ByThe Kansas Jayhawks (8) are coming off a close-call win against to host the Texas Longhorns (19), the team that handed them their first Big 12 loss.
Texas gained a lot of ground after losing their first two conference games to move into second place, behind Kansas. However, the Longhorns have lost two of their last four and are now two games behind for the Big 12 lead.
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Texas is the last ranked team on Kansas' schedule, which was full of them this year, so the Jayhawks may still have a shot at claiming a one seed for the NCAA Tournament. Kansas snuck by Texas Tech thanks to a layup from Andrew Wiggins as time expired. Wiggins finished with 19 and Joel Embiid with 18, but no one else managed more than six.
"It's big, it's big, but it doesn't mean anything unless we win Saturday," Self said after game, according to ESPN. "That's the game that would give us some serious breathing room, although we've got a little bit now, and it was big tonight."
Kansas lost four of its first 13 games, but started off 7-0 against the Big 12. Then Texas handed the Jayhawks their first conference loss.
"To me it's not even about the league race, it's about playing Texas and playing a team that's already handled us once. One of the residual effects is that it's big for the league race, but also it's just an opportunity for us to try to play better against a team that smacked us around pretty good."
Texas' leading scorers Jonathan Holmes and Isaiah Taylor combined for 45 points in the first game between the two teams and Wiggins only scored seven. Texas will have to try and duplicate that effort and bounce back from their loss to Iowa State.
"We're better than that, and we didn't come in with a tough enough mindset," coach Rick Barnes said. "We've got to be better."