Longhorns vs. Jayhawks: Texas Battles Back To Give Kansas a Loss at Home

Jan. 22, 2011 may prove to be a turning point for this year's incarnation of the Texas Longhorns basketball program. Saturday's win in hostile Allen Fieldhouse against the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks proved that the team that Rick Barnes has assembled will be a force to be reckoned as the season progresses into March.

Kansas had not lost in Lawrence in in their past 69 home games, or close to four seasons. Early on Saturday, it looked as though the Jayhawks would make that 70. Texas looked outmatched and intimidated, falling behind 18-3 after about five minutes of play. At this point, the only people in Allen Fieldhouse that thought Texas had any kind of a chance to win were the players and coaches on the visitors' bench.

After Texas withstood the storm put forth by Tyrel Reed and the Morris twins, the best way to get back into the game was to keep from panicking and lock down on the defensive end. While only combining for six points and nine rebounds in 50 minutes, seniors Matt Hill and Gary Johnson's invaluable efforts on the defensive end proved that Marcus and Markieff Morris would not have the same kind of effect on the game's outcome as they were accustomed to having.

As much as I've been critical of Rick Barnes' lineup choices in the past, including playing Gary Johnson at small forward for long stretches in the overtime loss to Connecticut, the unforeseen size advantage paid dividends on both ends of the court as the game wore on. Texas ended up outrebounding Kansas 40-33 and causing many Jayhawk players to get into foul trouble.

As important as the aforementioned players were, in addition to guards Cory Joseph and Dogus Balbay, the most important players on the court for Texas were Jordan Hamilton, Tristan Thompson and especially J'Covan Brown. These three players combined to go 21-of-25 from the charity stripe, taking advantage of the foul trouble in which Kansas found themselves. Thompson also had five blocks, and proved himself worthy of the hype that he has been receiving as a freshman phenom because of his ability to contribute in all areas of a basketball game. Both Hamilton and Brown's passion and clutch play were vital, as both received technical fouls in the course of standing up to Kansas players in Allen Fieldhouse. They made it clear from the start of the contest that they were not intimidated by the raucous crowd.

J'Covan's outburst in the second half, at one point scoring 10 points in just over three minutes, took the Kansas crowd out of the game and gave all the momentum to Texas. After gaining this lead with 10 minutes and 41 seconds remaining, it was not relinquished, with the Longhorns' excellent team defense holding Kansas to just 28 second half points.

Of course, it has yet to be seen whether this win has any bearing on the remainder of the season for either team, as we saw a strong start by Texas last year precede an excruciatingly disappointing finish, but this upset in Lawrence certainly feels significant for a young team looking to make its mark in the college basketball season.