LAWRENCE, Kan. _ Kansas' basketball team remains unstoppable at home when featured on ESPN's Big Monday broadcast.
Thanks in large part to Texas native Marcus Garrett, who scored a career-high 20 points (17 in the first half), the No. 7-ranked Jayhawks downed Texas 80-78 on Monday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Lagerald Vick led the way with 21 points and Dedric Lawson and Devon Dotson had 17 and 10 apiece as the Jayhawks (15-2, 4-1), who cashed 11 3-pointers to Texas' 13, improved to 27-0 in home Big Monday contests during the 16-year Bill Self era.
Kansas, which had no turnovers the first half and four for the game, knocked off the Longhorns (10-7, 2-3) for the 10th straight time. It marked KU's 31st straight Big Monday victory at Allen overall and improved KU's mark at home on ESPN's showcase game to 38-1.
Matt Coleman scored 16, Kerwin Roach 13 and Jase Febres 12 for Texas, which has lost three straight league games after opening the conference season with wins over Kansas State and West Virginia.
Kansas survived this one despite squandering a 10-point lead (69-59) with five minutes to play. Jase Febres hit three threes, tying the score at 73 with 2:20 to play.
He would miss a three just before the final horn, however, with a chance to win the game.
Lawson hit two free throws at 2:05, giving KU a 75-73 lead. Following a tie-up on defense, Vick hit a 3-pointer that made it 78-73 at 1:31. Coleman hit a two that cut the gap to three at 1:05. After a Garrett miss from three, Texas missed two shots and fouled Lawson at :15.1.
Lawson hit one of two free throws, making it 79-75. Texas hit another three, cutting the gap to one.
Garrett missed the front end of a two-shot foul situation at 8.6 with KU up one and hit the second free throw, giving the Jayhawks an 80-78 lead.
Texas with a chance to win from three, went to Febres, who misfired from beyond the arc.
The Jayhawks have defeated Texas in 15 of the last 16 meetings and 17 of 19. Kansas won its 14th straight game overall at Allen Fieldhouse.
Garrett, a sophomore guard from Dallas (8 of 11 shooting for the game; 3 of 4 from 3), had tied his career mark in points (13), baskets (five) and 3s (three) nine minutes into the game. His offensive explosion sparked KU to a 23-17 lead at 10:59.
He had 13 of KU's 23 points with nobody else scoring more than three. Kansas led 29-24 at 5:44, however, Texas' Jase Febres and Elijah Mitrou-Long cashed 3s and UT led, 30-29, at 4:12.
By halftime, Texas had hit 8 of 19 3s to KU's 6 of 12 and led, 40-38. Coleman scored 10 points in the half, while Osetkowski had eight points and five boards. Texas outrebounded KU, 22-14 in the half.
Vick joined Garrett in double figures the first half with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting (2 of 3 from 3).
Garrett went 7 of 7 from the field the first half and 3 of 3 from behind the arc.
Dedric Lawson had just four points and four boards the first half.
The Jayhawks, who opened the first half 8-0, started the second on a 7-0 run and turned a 40-38 halftime deficit into a 45-40 lead at 18:17.
The Jayhawks led, 51-47, at 15:22 when Dedric Lawson picked up his third foul.
Dotson scored, David McCormack banked in a short shot and Garrett hit a spectacular spinning layup as KU led by 10, 57-47, at 11:51.
KU managed to keep the 10 point lead (65-55) at 7:40 on an Ochai Agbaji bucket and again at 5:00 on a Lawson bucket (69-59). However Texas scored five straight quickly to cut the gap to 69-64 at 4:13.
KU started out strong, grabbing an 8-0 lead and forcing Shaka Smart to call time out just 1:45 into the game. Texas native Quentin Grimes opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, then Vick hit a three and Lawson a deep two. Texas immediately cut the gap to 8-5 and 10-7 and survived Garrett's first-half scoring onslaught.
KU will meet West Virginia at 1 p.m. Saturday at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va. The Mountaineers, 8-8 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12, will travel to TCU on Tuesday night then play host to the Jayhawks.
West Virginia has dropped home games to Texas Tech (62-59) and Oklahoma State (85-77) and road games to Texas (61-54) and Kansas State (71-69).
