Texas Basketball: 3 keys to Longhorns downing No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks

2. In what has been a deadly area for Texas as of late, the Longhorns must keep the Jayhawks off the FT line

From Texas’ game with West Virginia, there may not be a more telling stat than the free-throw differential – and given their struggles in keeping teams off the line as of late, the Longhorns will have their work cut out for them in keeping Kansas off the charity stripe.

Against the Mountaineers, Texas was an abysmal 4-10 on freebies – all the while allowing West Virginia to go an asinine 26-37 from the charity stripe.  That is not just a one-time occurrence for the Longhorns, either – since returning from their COVID-19 pause, Texas has allowed teams to attempt 30 or more free-throws in three of their last six games.

In that six-game span, the Longhorns are putting teams on the line an average of 23.8 times – and teams are 99-143 (69.2%) in that stretch.  For comparison, the Longhorns have yet to shoot over 30 free-throws in a single game in that six-game span, maintaining a clip of 67-104 (64.4%) in that span.

It is reasonable to believe that this may not be as great of an issue against the Jayhawks, considering Kansas – in its five-game win-streak – is getting to the free-throw line about 18 times per game.  However, the Jayhawks have shown that they can get to the line at will – they attempted 34 free-throws in their win over Oklahoma State, and they were 16-22 against Texas in their last meeting.

The Jayhawks do not rely much on the free-throw line at all for their offense, seeing just 16.4% of their point distribution – in Big 12 play – come from freebies, which ranks seventh in the conference.  But they have shown their willingness to draw contact and get to the line – and the Longhorns have to ensure that they do not suffer a repeat of their previous showings, particularly after their abysmal showing against West Virginia.