Kansas basketball vs. Texas: Jayhawks look for second straight road win

Kansas basketball will try to pick up their second road win in a row against Texas on Saturday. Here are five things to know about the Longhorns.

Kansas basketball is coming off of a bounce-back game last Tuesday night against the Sooners. The Jayhawks picked up a 66-52 victory, notably without star point guard Devon Dotson. Isaiah Moss shouldered the load for the Jayhawks, scoring a season-high 20 points and knocking down six three-pointers.

Texas recently took down Oklahoma State, evening their Big 12 record to 2-2 this season. The Longhorns have been fairly unimpressive and average so far this season, but they could change that perception with a win over Jayhawks on Saturday.

Here are five things to know about the Longhorns and what they mean for Kansas.

1. Texas struggles from the free throw line

The Longhorns are shooting a putrid 64% from the charity stripe this season, which is even worse than Kansas. Texas also struggles getting to the line, with a free throw rate of 21.4% (the national average is 32.2%). Obviously, this is all good news for Kansas basketball. One of Kansas’ biggest weaknesses (free throw shooting) will be cancelled out, giving them a better chance at a victory.

2. The Longhorns have a respectable defense

Like most teams in the Big 12, Texas relies on its defense more than its offense. The Longhorns have number 35 defense in the country according to KenPom, but that shouldn’t be a huge concern for fans. Kansas has played and beaten teams with far better defenses, such as West Virginia who’s ranked second and Stanford who’s ranked number 11.

3. Texas attempts a lot of three-pointers

In their most recent win over Oklahoma State, Texas jacked up 32 three-pointers, and knocked down 15 of them. The Longhorns shoot a triple on 44.6% of their shot attempts according to KenPom, and are making them 34.1% of the time. This is scary, but there’s good news. Kansas basketball has held their opponents this season to only 29.2% from deep, so the Jayhawks shouldn’t get killed from behind the arc.

4. The Longhorns don’t have a true scoring threat

Kamaka Hepa led the Longhorns with 15 points against the Cowboys, but he probably won’t against the Jayhawks. Texas’ high scorer is Matt Coleman III who’s averaging just over 12 points per game this season, and it seems like nobody on the Texas roster is a bona-fide scorer. That means Kansas has to be ready, any Longhorn could go off at any time like Hepa did against Oklahoma State.

5. Shaka Smart is on the hot seat

Since joining Texas in 2015, Smart’s biggest accomplishment was winning the NIT IN 2019. He has yet to finish better than fourth in the Big 12, and that was back in his first season. With the amount of success Chris Beard has had at Texas Tech, it’s only making Shaka Smart look worse. He doesn’t have much time to get things turned around, or his job could be in serious jeopardy.

You can catch the Jayhawks take on Texas and try to pick up their second consecutive road win this Saturday at 1:00 PM (CT) on ESPN.