The great thing about college basketball is that there are no guarantees. Kansas entered Thursday Night’s contest as the 13th ranked team in the nation. The Jayhawks found themselves winners of 6 of their last 7 games, including a victory over No. 2 ranked Baylor, heading into their game against UTEP.
Kansa was hot-headed into the game but, so was UTEP. They found themselves on a 4-game winning streak before Thursday’s game with Kansas. Though UTEP was also seen as a massive underdog; the Jayhawks were seen as 17-point favorites.
First half
Even though UTEP were the perceived underdogs in this matchup, they played like the favorites in the first half. They opened the game with an 11-2 run and never looked back. By the end of the first half, UTEP held a commanding 34-20 lead over No. 13 Kansas. UTEP held Kansas to only 8 made field goals in the half, shooting 27.6% from the field.
Forward Bryson Williams led UTEP in the first half. Williams scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Williams’ teammate Souley Boum added 11 first-half points for UTEP. UTEP shot 41.2% from the field in the first half and outrebounded Kansas 22 to 18. All of this helped UTEP have a 14-point lead at the break.
Ochai Agbaji was the leading scorer for Kansas in the first half, scoring half of the team’s points with 10. Kansas struggled in the first 20 minutes of action. Poor shooting, getting outrebounded and turning the ball over led to a 14-point deficit at halftime. If Kansas wanted to avoid being upset on their home court, they would have to clean up their play in the second half.
Second half
Down 34-20 coming out of the break, Kansas needed to go on a second-half run to get themselves back in the game. A Kansas second-half run is exactly what happened; after being down 14 at the half, Kansas fought back. With 5:20 left in the game, Kansas found themselves down just one point. The game would stay tight down the stretch. Kansas would take the lead with 25 seconds left after Marcus Garrett’s layup, making the score 64-62. Kansas would go on to win 67-62.
After Agbaji was Kansas’ only real contributor in the first half, 3 players finished in double figures. Agbaji finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds, David McCormack had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Marcus Garrett posted 11 points. The extra scoring contributors in the second half fueled Kansas’ comeback and helped them avoid an upset.
Bryson Williams posted a double-double in the loss, 23 points, and 13 rebounds. Souley Boum would finish with 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Thursday’s contest was the regular-season finale for both teams. Kansas will now shift its attention to next week’s Big 12 Tournament. UTEP will look to bounce back in the Conference USA Tournament.
