Playing its first game against a ranked team this season — one missing its top two scorers — No. 6 Kansas fell to No. 25 Texas Tech, 75-67, Saturday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
Bryson Williams scored 22 points and Clarence Nadolny added a career-high 17 points as the Red Raiders (11-3, 1-1), who were missing the injured Terrence Shannon and Kevin McCullar, bounced back from a 51-47 loss to No. 11 Iowa State on Wednesday.
Because of COVID-19 issues and injuries in Texas Tech’s program, the Red Raiders had just seven players available for the game versus Iowa State. Tech had 11 players go through the warmup lines Saturday against KU, but used just eight versus the Jayhawks.
Ochai Agbaji scored 24 points and Jalen Wilson added a season-high 20 points for the Jayhawks (12-2, 1-1), who had defeated Oklahoma State, 74-63, on Tuesday night in Stillwater, Okla. Christian Braun had 10 points, while inside players David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot combined for just four points in Saturday’s loss.
KU started Wilson in place of Remy Martin, who has been slowed by a swollen right knee. Martin committed three fouls and played just five minutes the first half, scoring zero points. He finished with two points and one assist in 12 minutes.
Wilson scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting the first half, but KU trailed 33-25. It was the first time KU trailed at the half this season.
The Jayhawks committed 10 first-half turnovers. Agbaji had eight points, but Braun just two. Lightfoot and McCormack combined for two points in the half. Texas Tech was led by Nadolny and Williams, who had 11 and nine points respectively in the half.
KU trailed by 14 points, 51-37, with 11 minutes, 52 seconds left. KU cut the gap to 53-48 at 8:11 and 56-51 at 7:00, but Texas Tech upped the lead back to nine (60-51) at 5:06.
Agbaji, who was playing with four fouls, hit a 3-pointer that cut the gap to 62-56 at 4:20, but Texas Tech’s Mylik Wilson answered with a three at 4:08 to up the Raiders’ lead to nine.
KU got it down to four points (71-67) but could get no closer.
Braun appeared to grab a rebound of a Texas Tech miss at 41.2 seconds, but a tie up was called and Tech kept its four-point lead.
Prior to Saturday, the Jayhawks last met its first ranked team this late in the season in 1988-89, Roy Williams’ first of 15 seasons at KU. The Jayhawks that year took on No. 5 Oklahoma in game 15.
Prior to this season, the latest the Jayhawks played a ranked team in the 19-year Bill Self era was in game 13 in both 2009-10 (against No. 18 Temple) and 2008-09 (versus No. 14 Tennessee).
KU defeated current No. 10 Michigan State, 87-74, in the season-opening Champions Classic on Nov. 9 in New York. The Spartans, however, were unranked at that time, a snub that drew the ire of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who believed Michigan State had a team worthy of preseason top-25 accolades in 2021-22.
KU last was forced to open conference play with two consecutive road games in 2000-01, when the Jayhawks won against both Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
The Jayhawks, this season, were supposed to play their first conference game at home against TCU on Jan. 1, but that game was postponed because of COVID-19 issues in the Horned Frogs’ program.
