LAWRENCE, Kan. — A stale-looking No. 3-ranked Kansas basketball team, which had not played in 11 days, suffered a lopsided, historic 84-59 defeat to No. 8 Texas on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks (8-2, 2-1), who hit 16 3s in a 79-65 win over West Virginia on Dec. 22, shot 3 of 23 from beyond the arc Saturday in suffering the worst home loss in a Big 12 game in the 18-year Bill Self era.
KU fell to Baylor by 12 points last year and 12 to Texas Tech in 2018.
Much more significantly, it tied for KU’s worst loss in Allen Fieldhouse history. Missouri beat the Jayhawks by 25 points, 91-66, on Feb. 1, 1989.
Courtney Ramey had 18 points, Andrew Jones 14, Matt Coleman 13 and Kai Jones 12 for the Longhorns (8-1, 2-0) who led 10-2 early, by eight points at halftime and 21 points with 7 1/2 minutes left. Jalen Wilson scored 20 points for KU. Coleman also had six rebounds and six assists and Jericho Sims 12 rebounds.
Ochai Agbaji had 11 points for KU, which entered having won 17 straight regular-season Big 12 games.
Kansas will have to settle for two wins in three games, all against ranked teams, to open the 2020-21 Big 12 Conference season.
The Jayhawks, who had opened the league campaign with wins over No. 14 Texas Tech and No. 7 West Virginia. It’s the first time in school history the Jayhawks have faced three ranked teams to open league play. That includes KU’s days in the Big Eight.
KU coach Self went with Mitch Lightfoot at the 5-spot to start the second half over an ineffective David McCormack, who scored eight points — all from the free-throw line — in 14 minutes.
UT snapped KU’s 17-game winning streak in regular-season conference games and halted KU’s 13-game homecourt win streak. KU entered having won nine straight over UT in KU’s tradition-rich building. Texas is now 2-16 all time in Allen.
KU’s next opponent, TCU, did not receive any votes in last week’s AP poll and likely will not be ranked prior to Tuesday’s game (9 p.m., Schollmaier Arena, Fort Worth, Texas).
Kai Jones scored 12 points and Ramey 10 as the Longhorns, who raced to an early 10-2 lead, led 37-29, at halftime.
KU showed definite signs of rust incurred during an 11-day break between games. The Jayhawks missed their first eight shots and at half were 11 of 34 overall and 1 of 7 from 3.
Agbaji had 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, his teammates 18 points on 6-of-15 marksmanship the first half. McCormack had two points on 0-of-4 shooting in the half with three rebounds in 11 minutes. UT outrebounded KU 24-20 in the half with Jericho Sims grabbing eight boards.
KU’s Bryce Thompson missed the game because of a back injury.
“He had a pretty hard fall in a bad spot,” Self said. Meanwhile, two UT reserves, Royce Hamm and Kamaka Hepa did not make the trip. Coach Shaka Smart had said before the game that one or two players would not make the trip because of COVID-19 concerns.
