Jan. 22, 2011

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postgame interviews: Reed, Mc Morris and Morningstar talk about the loss | Reed, Mc Morris talk about the loss | Coach Self

LAWRENCE, Kan. -

Second-ranked Kansas spurted out to a big early lead and then went cold in the second half as it suffered its first loss of the 2010-11 season with a 74-63 defeat at the hands of No. 10/11 Texas here Saturday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse. The loss snapped the nation's longest active home court winning streak at 69 games and gave UT its first win over the Jayhawks in their last four meetings.

Kansas opened up on a 10-0 run as four different Jayhawks got in on the scoring. Senior guard Tyrel Reed hit his first of five threes in the game off an assist from junior forward Marcus Morris to get things started.

A lay up by freshman guard Josh Selby gave KU a 5-0 lead. Junior forward Markieff Morris then drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key before Selby got a dunk to give KU a 10-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

Longhorn sophomore forward Jordan Hamilton finally got UT on the board with a put back at the 15:54 mark. Marcus Morris then got a lay up and was fouled on the next possession and was followed by another three from Reed as KU took a 16-2 lead.

Freshman forward Tristan Thompson knocked down two free throws and a lay up and freshman guard Cory Joseph hit a jumper and sophomore guard J'Covan Brown nailed a three as UT was able to cut the KU lead to 10 points at 22-12, but KU came right back. Reed knocked down his third three of the first half and senior forward Mario Little scored on a baseline lay up as KU extended its lead to 15 points.

Three quick Texas baskets forced KU head coach Bill Self to use a timeout with 6:12 remaining in the opening period. The Jayhawks scored quickly out of the timeout as Marcus Morris hit a turnaround jumper and then a running lay up in the lane. Little added a jumper from the top of the key to give KU a 33-19 lead with just under three minutes left in the first half.

Hamilton knocked down two free throws and UT senior guard Dogus Balbay scored on a transition lay up to trim the Jayhawk lead back down to 10 points. KU senior guard Brady Morningstar grabbed a steal and turned it into a dunk on the offensive end giving Kansas a 35-23 edge at the break.

Reed led all players with nine points in the opening frame as he canned 3-of-5 shots from beyond the arc. Marcus Morris had seven points at the break and Morningstar added six.  

Kansas opened the second half of play missing six of its first seven shots from the field and committing five turnovers allowing Texas to cut the lead down to four points with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game at 42-38.

UT got back-to-back threes from Brown as the Longhorns took their first lead of the game at the 10:38 mark at 45-44. KU tied the game at 45 all as Markieff Morris knocked down one of two shots from the foul line. UT then took a four-point lead at 49-45 after consecutive runners in the lane from Thompson and Brown.

Jayhawk junior guard Tyshawn Taylor answered right back with a runner of his own before picking up his fourth foul and sending Brown to the line where he knocked down a pair of foul shots. A wide open Joseph nailed a three-pointer and hit a guarded jumper to give UT a 56-47 lead with seven minutes to play.

After one free by Markieff Morris, Joseph banked in a three as the shot clock expired to give Texas a 59-48 lead. Markieff Morris then hit another free throw to cut the UT lead to 10 points. The two teams traded lay ups before Reed hit his fifth triple of the day and Marcus Morris got a put back to get Kansas back to within seven points at 63-56 with 3:07 to play.

Joseph hit one of two free throws and then Marcus Morris drove the lane for a bucket to get KU within six points at 63-58. After working the shot clock down, Hamilton scored on a drive to the basket putting Texas back up by eight points. Markieff Morris then drove the baseline for a lay up and the foul. He converted the three-point play and then Gary Johnson hit a jumper from the lane to thwart the Jayhawk rally.

Texas knocked down 6-of-6 free throws in the final minute on its way to the 74-63 win.

After shooting 44.1 percent in the first half, the Jayhawks managed just 26.7 percent in the second half. UT also outrebounded the home team 42-33, including 35-22 on the defensive glass.

The Jayhawks will travel to Colorado Tuesday, Jan. 25 for a 7 p.m. tip, which can be seen on the Big 12 television package.