Texas outlasts Kansas as focus remains on Big 12 championship, not NCAA Tournament seeding

KANSAS CITY, Mo. − On Saturday evening at the T-Mobile Center, the second quarter of the Texas-Kansas basketball game belonged to Aaliyah Moore.

The fourth quarter? Shay Holle claimed that.

As for the game itself, that was owned by Texas.

Behind the play of Holle and Moore, Texas moved onto the semifinal round of the Big 12 Tournament with a 76-60 win over Kansas. At 4 p.m. on Monday, the Longhorns will play Kansas State for a spot in the Big 12 championship game.

Texas also improved to 28-4 with the win Earlier on Saturday, ESPN listed Texas as a No. 1 seed in its most-recent bracketology projections. The promotion came in the wake of Ohio State and UCLA's losses at their conference tournaments.

The Longhorns, though, weren't ready to talk about the NCAA Tournament after beating Kansas. Texas still has two games it needs to win in Kansas City.

"One game at a time," said Holle as head coach Vic Schaefer ferociously scribbled something on the podium while he sat by the fourth-year guard at the postgame press conference.

Continued Holle: "We're definitely focused on what we're trying to get to right now, the Big 12 Championship. That's what's on our mind. So one game at a time here. Once we get back home we will start prepping. Obviously we all know what's at stake and we know we're in a very blessed position and we just need to put our heads down and work. But we're definitely focused on being in Kansas City right now, Big 12 Championship, as it now says on the table."

Texas and Kansas were meeting nearly two months after the Longhorns beat KU by 35 points in Austin. The Jayhawks, though, kept things much closer this time around.

Texas led 19-12 after the opening quarter and then leaned on Moore in the second session. The junior forward scored 10 points and grabbed six points in the quarter, and that effort guided UT into halftime with a 34-29 edge.

Moore went on to contribute 19 points and 11 rebounds. Two years ago, Moore had a breakout performance as a freshman in the Big 12 championship game. She had to watch the Big 12 Tournament from the bench last year, however, as she recovered from a knee injury.

"It feels amazing. To be able to go out there, play with my teammates, see Shay do what she does but actually be on the floor to witness it, not from the sideline, grateful, blessed, thankful that I'm in this position I am today and it took work," Moore said. "The game took work tonight, but just give God the glory and my teammates and coaches and everyone that supported me through what happened."

A Kansas team that had beaten ranked Kansas State and Oklahoma teams since Feb. 25 did not go away. Despite all-conference honoree Taiyanna Jackson's foul troubles in the second half, Kansas pulled within one point in the third quarter. Texas entered the final quarter with a slim 48-43 lead.

Over the first 80 seconds of the fourth quarter, Holle knocked down two 3-pointers and made a jumper. Holle is an all-conference defender who entered the game averaging just 7.8 points, but that eight-point outburst put UT up by nine. Kansas never got any closer on the scoreboard.

"As I told Shay Holle, it's a whole lot easier to coach this game when you have a guard that can make a shot," Schaefer said.

Added Holle: "I think Coach puts all of us in good positions to score and my teammates found me. I maybe didn't take as many shots as I should have in the first half, but we want to be patient, get a good look. So the ball found me at a good time and they went in."

In addition to the third double-double performance of Moore's season and Holle's 10 points, Texas also got 15 points from center Taylor Jones as the Longhorns took advantage of Jackson's foul situation. Madison Booker scored a game-high 21 points and distributed seven assists, and Schaefer pointed out that the Big 12 Co-Player of the Year only had one turnover.

"Drinks are on me," Schaefer said.

"Water," suggested Holle.

Kansas (19-12) was led by the 20 points scored by freshman guard S'Mya Nichols. The Jayhawks were projected to be a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN, but Kansas must wait over a week to learn its tournament fate.

Texas, meanwhile, will spend this Sunday preparing for Kansas State, which beat West Virginia 65-62 on Saturday night. Kansas State (25-6) and Texas split the two games their played this season with each team picking up a win on their home court.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas outlasts Kansas to advance to Big 12 Tournament semifinals