Three Point Play: Texas' defense rolls over versus Kansas State in 116-103 loss

Texas welcomed Kansas State to the Moody Center on Tuesday night. The Wildcats not only made themselves at home, they tore the place up and delivered the first loss in the new arena to the Longhorn men’s basketball program in a 116-103 offensive showcase.

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The Wildcats, led by first-year head coach Jerome Tang, put up their point total on a 61 percent shooting night. Those points came via multiple methods like wide open layups surrendered by the Texas defense, or open threes, or free throws, or just tough shot-making.

It was Texas’ third time allowing 100 or more at home since 1980, and the first time the Longhorns surrendered 100 in over a decade.

Kansas State’s offense played like one of the best in college basketball, with an elite 1.49 points per possession and only 12 turnovers.

Teams win games, and Kansas State won this one…

Kansas State came to Austin and whooped the Longhorns on their own floor with incredible shot-making.

They used the dribble drive to pressure the Texas defense and were able to use quickness off the dribble to either blow by opponents or skew the structure of the system to create open looks at the rim off assists. The total number of dunk or layup attempts for the Wildcats was 29, nearly 50 percent of the 60 total shots from the field for KSU. They made 18 of them.

It wasn’t just a layup line, though. That skewing of the defense and consistent ability to get to the rim caused Texas to try to crash down on drivers and cutters more often than they would have liked. As a result, Kansas State received a lot of open three-point opportunities and took tremendous advantage of them. They were 13-of-24 from distance.

When the game was cut to single digits at certain points by Texas, Kansas State was able to respond each time. When Texas tried to force K-State to win the game with foul shooting late in the contest, they answered the call. They were 31-of-33 from the stripe for the game.

Plus, they hit their shots from the midrange, too. KSU was 4-of-7 on non-layup or non-dunk two-point shots.

Essentially, they made shots at an elite percentage from every level.

Markquis Nowell played one of the best games of his career, serving as the poster-child of the layup or three-pointer offense available to the Cats. He scored 36 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and was a perfect 12-for-12 from the line. Cam Carter had 17, Keyontae Johnson had 28, Abayomi Iyiola had 10, and Naw’Quan Tomlin had 11. That’s every Wildcat starter in double figures.

Kansas State used one of its best offensive performances in history to take a victory in Austin from the Longhorns.

…But Texas gave K-State as much help as it could on defense

K-State deserves plenty of credit for it’s supernova night on offense, but the Texas defense did its fair share to help the Wildcats achieve the victory.

No matter what lineup combination was on the floor, especially after Christian Bishop was ruled out for the second half, Texas struggled mightily to make stops. Surrendering 100 in a loss is an alarming result for every team, but it’s especially worrisome for a team that prides itself so much on its defense.

There are some flaws with the no-middle defensive style, as every defensive style has trade-offs. But K-State took advantage of those flaws as well as the constant stream of mistakes from the Longhorns within that system on the defensive end.

1.49 points per possession is scoring at an elite clip. Texas didn’t counter it by forcing a lot of turnovers as the Cats coughed it up just 12 times.

There’s no doubt Jerome Tang is a quality coach and the Cats are a quality team, but Texas offered a fair share of assistance when the team in light purple had the ball.

Sizzling second half for Texas

The only reason Texas made the game interesting enough to need to foul late in the second half after entering halftime down 18 was due to its own offensive explosion.

Texas was 22-of-33 from the field in the second half, including a 6-of-12 mark from three. The Horns hit 17 of their first 21 shots in the second 20 minutes, including a stretch of 11 straight. They trimmed the K-State lead to eight on several occasions, the latest coming with just under five minutes to play thanks to a Marcus Carr three.

Carr, Tyrese Hunter, and Sir’Jabari Rice had tremendous second halves, scoring 19, 17, and 13. They were 16-of-22 from the field and 12-of-12 from the line.

They showcased shot-making, transition scoring, and excellent vision with and without the ball to accumulate those numbers.

Those numbers just weren’t enough.