No. 4 Kansas 64, Texas 59: Ben McLemore returned from a sprained right ankle in his last game to score 16 points as the visiting Jayhawks rallied late to remain unbeaten in the Big 12 Conference.
The Jayhawks (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) erased an 11-point second-half deficit to extend their winning streak to 15 games. Jeff Withey added 14 points and nine rebounds for Kansas, which closed the game on a 17-6 run and watched Texas guard Julien Lewis come up just short on a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the closing moments.
Sheldon McClellan scored 18 points and Lewis had 11 to lead the Longhorns (8-9, 0-4). Jonathan Holmes added 10 – all of which came in a span of less than six minutes of the second half.
Fueled by Holmes, Texas used a 12-0 run to take a 42-31 lead just after halftime. The Jayhawks chipped away and regained the lead at 54-53 when Naadir Tharpe fed McLemore for an alley-oop with 4:29 to go.
After a basket by McClellan gave the Longhorns their final lead at 57-56, Kansas scored six points in just over a minute, again punctuated by a dunk from McLemore that made it 62-57 with 74 seconds left. Lewis missed from the right baseline with 15 seconds left and the Jayhawks closed it out at the line.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kansas G Elijah Johnson missed his first nine shots. He finished 1-for-11. ... Withey's three blocked shots moved him into a tie with Nick Collison for third place on the school's all-time list. ... Kansas was 21-for-25 (84 percent) from the line. Texas went 2-for-8 (25 percent).
Kansas | Texas | |
Ben McLemore 16 | Scoring | Sheldon McClellan 18 |
Jeff Withey 4 | Assists | Javan Felix 4 |
Jeff Withey 9 | Rebounds | Julien Lewis 7 |
Jeff Withey 6 | Free Throws Made | Javan Felix 1 |
Ben McLemore 2 | Steals | Demarcus Holland 3 |
Jeff Withey 3 | Blocks | Jonathan Holmes 1 |