Austin, TX – Ben McLemore had 16 points, Jeff Withey scored 14 and the fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks rallied to beat the Texas Longhorns, 64-59, at the Frank Erwin Center.
Travis Releford supplied 12 points for the Jayhawks (16-1, 4-0 Big 12), who overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to extend their winning streak to 15 games.
"Texas played great. They guarded us. They out hustled us. They did all the things they needed to do to win, we just had some guys step up late," said Kansas coach Bill Self.
Sheldon McClellan paced Texas (8-9, 0-4) with 18 points, while Julien Lewis finished with 11 and seven rebounds.
The Longhorns put together a 12-0 run after Kansas had regained the lead on a McLemore 3-pointer early in the second half. Jonathan Holmes capped the surge with a jumper for a 42-31 Texas advantage with 15:22 remaining.
The Jayhawks gradually chipped away and moved back in front, 54-53, on a McLemore dunk with 4:13 left. Another McLemore slam made it 62-57 with 1:16 to play.
After a McClellan jumper, Lewis missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the right corner in the waning seconds.
"That situation, down three, he got a good look at it," Texas coach Rick Barnes said about Lewis. "He's made that shot a lot."
Kansas went nine minutes without a made field goal in the first half. Texas held the Jayhawks to 28 percent shooting and led 28-26 at the break.
Game Notes
Withey had nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks ... Kansas shot 50 percent in the second half ... Holmes scored 10 points.
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