Texas shows a businesslike attitude in win over KU

Rare is the championship-level team that doesn’t credit togetherness as a driving force. Not every team that bonds achieves greatness, but the disruptive can sap even the most talented squads.
Take last year’s Texas team. The Longhorns reached No. 1 for the first time and promptly unraveled. “It was every man for himself,” guard J’Covan Brown said.
Only a team pulling in the same direction could accomplish what Texas did on Saturday, a 74-63 triumph over second-ranked Kansas that was a shot heard ’round college basketball.
The outcome ended the Jayhawks’ perfect season and the Allen Fieldhouse winning streak at 69 games, and sent the Longhorns to the favorite’s role in the Big 12.
The Jayhawks, too, were as one, brought together by a collective heavy heart with Friday’s late-night revelation of the death of Thomas Robinson’s mother, Lisa.
Teammates gathered in Robinson’s dorm room shortly after their strong sophomore forward received the news with a call his 9-year-old sister. Players, some moms and coaches offered comfort, and KU coach Bill Self was taken aback by the scene.
“As a coach you always think your players like each other, and that’s a big quality that all good teams have,” Self said. “It seems trite but it’s very important. Last night, I saw a different level than what I even knew existed.”
It was special and sad and humbling, and not just for the Jayhawks. The first words from Texas coach Rick Barnes, moments after what must be considered one of the most glorious victories of his career, were about Robinson.
“I can’t even imagine the burden and weight on his shoulders today,” Barnes said.
Robinson’s two points and season-high matching four fouls in eight minutes reflected a distracted player, but it also spoke to the Longhorns’ ability to control the paint defensively, which defined the action.
The Jayhawks, particularly Tyrel Reed, shot their way to an 18-3 lead, and the margin seemed a healthy 12 for Kansas at the break. The winning streak, which would be the 10th longest in college history with this and one more home victory, seemed safe.
But Self felt uneasy. Texas controlled the final 10 minutes of the first half and only a series of turnovers in the final two minutes prevented a smaller halftime margin.
Tristan Thompson, the Longhorns’ athletic freshman forward, was the point man on a Texas defensive plan that frustrated the Kansas big men, starting with Marcus and Markieff Morris.
The Morris twins, who had combined for 44 points and 14 rebounds in the rout at Baylor earlier in the week, had a mere three boards between them in the first half. Their shots were challenged at the rim, and the Longhorns’ advantage grew even more pronounced in the second half, when Thompson added three blocks to bring his game total to five.
In all, Texas swatted away nine shots, turning the Jayhawks into a jump-shooting team. And in the second half Kansas couldn’t find the range, missing nine of 11 shots from behind the arc.
The twins wound up with 26 points and 12 boards between them, but Texas denied the easy finish. Marcus and Markieff also helped grow the Longhorns’ lead by missing free throws, clanking one of two on a consistent basis.
Texas had muddied the game, turning every trip down the floor into a precious possession and Kansas frittered away too many. The 15-point early lead became a 12-point Longhorns edge with 3:46 to play.
When a team wins 69 straight at home, never can a visitor feel home free, but the Longhorns had to wink at each other when freshman guard Cory Joseph banked in a three with the shot clock about to hit :00 with about five minutes remaining.
That gave Texas its first double-digit lead at 59-48 and the idea that every player on the Kansas roster except fifth-year senior Brady Morningstar would see his first home loss was becoming real.
Almost surreal. No “Rock Chalk” chant to signal victory, just fans quietly filing out of the building unsure how to react. Many had reached for their coats before the final buzzer.
The reaction from Texas also was unexpected. After the team completed hand shakes and filed through the roped-off corridor to its locker room, the loudest shouts of joy came from managers and not players.
Smiles, hand slaps, a stray yelp, but mostly a businesslike exit for a team that believes its greatest accomplishments — dare the Longhorns peek at an NCAA Tournament path of Tulsa, Okla., San Antonio and Houston? — lay ahead.