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Texas Hosts Kansas in Big Monday Matchup
The 12th-ranked Longhorns got off to a fast start this season, rolling up victories over Top 10 teams in Tennessee and UCLA. Coach Rick Barnes' team stalled a bit in late December and January, losing three of five games, but Texas has bounced back and won six of its last seven.
Tonight's matchup with Kansas, however, marks the opening of a important string of games heading up to the Big 12 tournament in mid-March. After tonight, Texas has road games against Baylor, Kansas State, and Texas Tech, and home games against Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Oklahoma State. To get a good seeding in the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament, it's important for the Longhorns to win at home and try to sneak a couple of victories on the road.
Kansas is 23-1 on the season, with its only loss coming two weeks ago to Kansas State. The Jayhawks' balanced attack is led by sophomore forward Darrell Arthur, but Brandon Rush, Darnell Jackson and junior Mario Chalmers are all averaging 12 or more points per game.
The game will be televised as part of ESPN's "Big Monday" package of games. Texas has been successful in it's Big Monday games, with an 11-2 record. Seven of those wins have come against Top 25 opponents. Junior guard A.J. Abrams has been on a roll in his last three games, averaging 22.3 points on 21-of-42 shooting.
