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Kansas State (20-9) at (5) Texas (24-5)
Coach Rick Barnes isn’t panicking after a second straight road loss dropped Texas into a first-place tie in the Big 12, but his team’s defense could be giving him reason to worry.
Barnes needs the fifth-ranked Longhorns to improve in that area quickly with Jacob Pullen and surging Kansas State coming to town Monday night.
Texas (24-5, 12-2) lost for the second time in three games Saturday, 91-89 to Colorado. The Longhorns had beaten Iowa State three days earlier, but that followed a 70-67 loss at Nebraska on Feb. 19.
Saturday’s defeat left Texas tied with Kansas atop the Big 12 with two games remaining. The Longhorns will look to regroup at home, where they are 16-1 and suffered their only loss by one point in overtime to then-No. 8 Connecticut on Jan. 8.
“I’m not concerned about it,” Barnes said. “If we are good enough, we’re good enough. If we’re not, we’re not. We have done a good job until this point.”
Texas struggled defensively in its last two losses, allowing the Buffaloes to shoot 53.3 percent and blowing a 15-point second-half lead as Colorado’s Alec Burks finished with 33 points.
The Cornhuskers made 47.1 percent from the field and outscored the Longhorns 44-34 in the second half.
The main focus at the defensive end for Texas on Monday will be guard Jacob Pullen, tied with Burks for second in the Big 12 at 19.7 points per game.
“We have been a pretty darn good defensive team all year, but we have to finish play,” Barnes said. “We know what we are capable of doing. We need more defensive rebounds and to do a better job on the offensive end.”
Jordan Hamilton’s struggles there haven’t helped. The conference’s fourth-leading scorer at 18.8 points a game, Hamilton scored 21 on Saturday but shot 29.2 percent from the field and 5 of 13 from 3-point range.
Hamilton, making 44.7 percent from the floor on the season, has shot 31.3 percent in the last four games, though he’s averaged 18.5 points over that span.
The Longhorns are 7-0 at home in conference play, winning by an average of 17.1 points. They could have a tough time continuing that domination against Kansas State (20-9, 8-6), which has won four in a row and beaten two Top 25 teams in that stretch.
Pullen scored 24 points to lead the Wildcats to an 80-70 victory over No. 20 Missouri on Saturday. Curtis Kelly added 15 for Kansas State, which pulled into a tie with Missouri for fourth place in the race for the final bye in the Big 12 tournament.
Pullen has averaged 29.0 points during the winning streak and shot 60 percent Saturday while making all four 3-pointers. He’s gone 15 of 23 from beyond the arc over the last four contests.
“He has never shied away from the responsibility of being a good player,” said coach Frank Martin, whose team has won six of seven.
While the Wildcats have played well recently, they are 4-5 on the road and have dropped three straight to ranked opponents. Kansas State is shooting 39.2 percent away from Manhattan, compared to 46.0 percent at home.
The Wildcats, though won the last two road matchups with Texas, taking the most recent one 85-81 in overtime Jan. 31, 2009.
Coach Rick Barnes isn’t panicking after a second straight road loss dropped Texas into a first-place tie in the Big 12, but his team’s defense could be giving him reason to worry.
Barnes needs the fifth-ranked Longhorns to improve in that area quickly with Jacob Pullen and surging Kansas State coming to town Monday night.
Texas (24-5, 12-2) lost for the second time in three games Saturday, 91-89 to Colorado. The Longhorns had beaten Iowa State three days earlier, but that followed a 70-67 loss at Nebraska on Feb. 19.
Saturday’s defeat left Texas tied with Kansas atop the Big 12 with two games remaining. The Longhorns will look to regroup at home, where they are 16-1 and suffered their only loss by one point in overtime to then-No. 8 Connecticut on Jan. 8.
“I’m not concerned about it,” Barnes said. “If we are good enough, we’re good enough. If we’re not, we’re not. We have done a good job until this point.”
Texas struggled defensively in its last two losses, allowing the Buffaloes to shoot 53.3 percent and blowing a 15-point second-half lead as Colorado’s Alec Burks finished with 33 points.
The Cornhuskers made 47.1 percent from the field and outscored the Longhorns 44-34 in the second half.
The main focus at the defensive end for Texas on Monday will be guard Jacob Pullen, tied with Burks for second in the Big 12 at 19.7 points per game.
“We have been a pretty darn good defensive team all year, but we have to finish play,” Barnes said. “We know what we are capable of doing. We need more defensive rebounds and to do a better job on the offensive end.”
Jordan Hamilton’s struggles there haven’t helped. The conference’s fourth-leading scorer at 18.8 points a game, Hamilton scored 21 on Saturday but shot 29.2 percent from the field and 5 of 13 from 3-point range.
Hamilton, making 44.7 percent from the floor on the season, has shot 31.3 percent in the last four games, though he’s averaged 18.5 points over that span.
The Longhorns are 7-0 at home in conference play, winning by an average of 17.1 points. They could have a tough time continuing that domination against Kansas State (20-9, 8-6), which has won four in a row and beaten two Top 25 teams in that stretch.
Pullen scored 24 points to lead the Wildcats to an 80-70 victory over No. 20 Missouri on Saturday. Curtis Kelly added 15 for Kansas State, which pulled into a tie with Missouri for fourth place in the race for the final bye in the Big 12 tournament.
Pullen has averaged 29.0 points during the winning streak and shot 60 percent Saturday while making all four 3-pointers. He’s gone 15 of 23 from beyond the arc over the last four contests.
“He has never shied away from the responsibility of being a good player,” said coach Frank Martin, whose team has won six of seven.
While the Wildcats have played well recently, they are 4-5 on the road and have dropped three straight to ranked opponents. Kansas State is shooting 39.2 percent away from Manhattan, compared to 46.0 percent at home.
The Wildcats, though won the last two road matchups with Texas, taking the most recent one 85-81 in overtime Jan. 31, 2009.
