The Kansas Jayhawks bring the fight to Austin, Texas against the Texas Longhorns as both teams continue to fight for position in the Big 12 conference.
TV SCHEDULE: Tuesday, February 23rd at 6:00 PM PST on ESPN
LOCATION: Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas
The Texas Longhorns and Kansas Jayhawks face off in Texas as both teams fight for better seeding in the upcoming Big 12 tournament. Kansas Jayhawks come into Texas riding a five-game win streak including wins against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and two back-to-back wins against Iowa State. Meanwhile, Texas has lost four of its last six games and including a double-overtime loss to Oklahoma State and a 14-point loss to Baylor.
Texas Longhorns guard Courtney Ramey showed up in his last game against West Virginia. After a dismal five-point performance against TCU where Ramey shot 2-8 from the field, Ramey came out firing against TCU. Ramey hit 9 of 13 shots and accumulated a season-high 28 points in the loss to West Virginia.
After an 0-3 performance from beyond the arc against TCU, Ramey shot lights out in the matchup against the Mountaineers, hitting 7 of 8 shots. Unfortunately, it was not enough for the Longhorns. However, they will need another performance like this out of Ramey to beat the red hot Jayhawks.
Four-year starter Matt Coleman has been the epitome of consistency for the Longhorns. In his last three games, Coleman is averaging 15 points per game on 80% shooting including 77.8% from three-point range and 81.8% from 2-point range. Coleman has rattled off two seven assist games in his last three contests which is a welcome development for head coach Shaka Smart. Coleman, it seems, is now the captain of the offense and he is succeeding in running it as evidenced by his two season-high seven assist games.
On the other end, Kansas has had an up and down year where they have experienced long winning streaks as long as a three-game losing streak and, at one point, losing six games in a 10 game stretch.
Sophomore forward Jalen Wilson has quietly been a cog for the Jayhawks in the rebounding game. From mid-January to early-February Wilson failed to register a double-digit rebounding game. Since then, Wilson has played in six games, averaging almost 35 minutes per game. He has pulled down three offensive rebounds and eight defensive rebounds for an average of 11 rebounds per game over his last six contests.
Wilson is ranked second in the Big 12 in total rebounds and 3rd in rebounds per game. It should not be overlooked how important Wilson’s work in the block is. It adds extra possessions for the Kansas Jayhawks and, evidently, it has been the key to success over their last five games.
The Texas Longhorns will finish out their season against Kansas tonight followed by a regular-season finale against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Kansas has a tough final two games ahead of them with this matchup against the Texas Longhorns and a season finale against the second-best team in the country; Baylor Bears.
Prediction: Kansas Jayhawks 74, Texas Longhorns 73