Second Half Surge Lifts Kansas past Texas, 66-57

AUSTIN, Texas – Trailing by five points at halftime, the No. 6/7 Kansas Jayhawks outscored Texas 40-26 over the final 20 minutes to secure the 66-57 win over the Longhorns Saturday afternoon inside the Frank Erwin Center. Sophomore Devon Dotson scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, while senior Udoka Azubuike added 17 points and nine rebounds to give KU its second road win of the week.

The victory moved Kansas to 14-3 on the year and 4-1 in Big 12 play. Texas dropped to 12-5 in its 2019-20 campaign and 2-3 in the league.

MOMENT OF THE GAME

After coming out of the halftime locker room down five points and seeing Texas convert on an alley-oop dunk for the first bucket of the second stanza, Kansas center Udoka Azubuike kickstarted the KU offense to pull his team back in the game. The senior scored eight points during a 10-0 KU run to turn what was a seven-point deficit, into a three-point advantage, 36-33, just over four minutes into the second half. Kansas gave up the lead just one more time over the final 16 minutes.

STAT OF THE GAME

3 – The Kansas defense limited Texas to just three points over the final 4:50 to hold on to the victory. This after the Longhorns tied the game at 54-54 on a Jericho Sims dunk with just under five minutes to play. The Longhorns went 1-for-6 from the field in that span. Kansas closed the game on a 12-3 run.

NOTES

The win improved KU to 4-1 or better in Big 12 play for the 13th-straight season and 16th time in the Bill Self era.

The victory also made Kansas 4-1 in true road games this season and 8-2 in games not played in Allen Fieldhouse.

The win made the Kansas-Texas series 34-9 overall in favor of KU, 11-7 in Texas meetings with all in the Erwin Center.

Kansas opened the second half on a 10-2 run, with Udoka Azubuike scoring eight points during that stretch.

The Jayhawks found themselves trailing by eight points, marking the third time in its five conference contests that it has trailed by eight points or more. KU is now 2-1 in those games.

KU connected on just two 3-pointers on the day, the second-fewest for the Jayhawks this season and the fourth time they have been held to 3 or fewer triples. KU is 3-1 in those games.

After Texas tied the game at 54-54 with 4:50 to play, Kansas closed the contest on a 12-3 run. Marcus Garrett and Devon Dotson scored all 12 points during the closing stretch.

UP NEXT

Kansas returns home, Tuesday, Jan. 18, to host Kansas State in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. The game will start at 6 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on ESPN2. Kansas leads the overall series with Kansas State, 197-94, including a 90-35 record in games played in Lawrence (49- 18 in Allen Fieldhouse). Starting in 2007, Kansas has won the last 13 meetings with Kansas State in Allen Fieldhouse.