Three takeaways from KU basketball’s loss against Texas in Big 12 Tournament final
The Kansas-heavy crowd inside T-Mobile Center sensed the Jayhawks were in trouble.
KU was down double-digit points against the Longhorns in the Big 12 Tournament Championship final and the Jayhawks were starting to look gassed and sluggish.
That’s when the chants from the crowd began — a supposed last-ditch effort to rally the players and inject some energy into the team on the court. Those same chants have helped countless teams over the years at Allen Fieldhouse but weren’t enough on Saturday.
The No. 2-seeded Longhorns (26-8, 13-5 Big 12) defeated No. 1 Kansas 76-56 in the Big 12 Tournament final.
Dylan Disu scored 18 points and Marcus Carr added 17 for the Longhorns.
Jalen Wilson led the Jayhawks (27-7, 13-5 Big 12) with 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Kansas will now await its seeding and region for the NCAA Tournament — which will come on Selection Sunday.
Wilson and point guard Dajuan Harris were later named to the all-tournament team.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game…
Joseph Yesufu makes his mark early
KU guard Kevin McCullar missed the game due to back spasms, so Joseph Yesufu took his place in the starting lineup.
Yesufu was pivotal for KU — especially in the first half.
As Kansas struggled to keep up with Texas, the guard hit timely buckets to keep the game within reach for the Jayhawks.
The guard scored 9 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor in the half. He and Wilson combined 26 of Kansas’ 33 first-half points.
Yesufu finished with 11 points. It was his fourth double-digit scoring performance this season — and first since early February.
Texas’ defense shuts down KU’s top players
The last time these teams met, UT severely limited the offensive impact of KU’s Gradey Dick and Harris. The duo combined for 11 points on 4-for-17 (23.5%) shooting.
The result was much of the same on Saturday.
With a little over 10 minutes left in the game, Harris hadn’t scored a single point while shooting 0-for-3 from the floor. Dick was marginally better; he had four points on 2-for-7 shooting.
Among Harris’ issues was a lack of aggressiveness in looking for his shot — mainly due to the Longhorns’ ability to cut off driving lanes. He often passed out to teammates when driving the lane and couldn’t find space to get off his floater or scoop shot.
Similarly, the Longhorns seemed to make it a priority for anybody but Dick to beat them. Texas didn’t let Dick get to his shooting spots and face-guarded him, an approach the team used earlier this year.
Harris and Dick both finished with six points.
Race for No. 1-overall seed tightens
The loss diminishes KU’s chances for the No. 1-overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Coming into the game, Kansas was projected as the top-overall seed, according to many Bracketologists. For what it’s worth, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi previously said Kansas had secured the top seed.
The Jayhawks still have a great case, but the NCAA committee will likely look closely at KU losing to the same team twice in roughly a week.
Not to mention, the margin-of-deficit was significant in both, so that could play a factor.
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 7:15 PM.
