No. 7 Kansas tops No. 21 Texas in OT to clinch share of Big 12 regular-season title
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas Jayhawks faced a tough test in their regular-season finale against the Texas Longhorns and had to play some additional minutes to properly celebrate senior day.
No. 7 Kansas (25-6, 14-4 in Big 12) beat No. 21 Texas (21-10, 10-8 in Big 12) 70-63 in overtime to notch a crucial Big 12 win.
With the victory, the Jayhawks secured a share of the Big 12 regular-season title, which they will share with the fourth-ranked Baylor Bears, who beat Iowa State 75-68.
Kansas, which will finish the regular season without a loss against a conference opponent at Allen Fieldhouse, has its first conference championship since it won the 2019-20 campaign’s regular season crown outright.
It’s in position to have the Big 12’s No. 1 overall seed when the conference tournament begins in the coming days. Now the question is whether or not head coach Bill Self and company can sweep the conference’s regular season and tournament titles for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
David McCormack stars among Kansas’ seniors
Maybe this is Jayhawks forward David McCormack’s last game at Allen Fieldhouse. Maybe it isn’t. Maybe McCormack will decide to play for Self in a super-senior campaign, just as forward Mitch Lightfoot, guard Remy Martin and others on the roster did. Maybe McCormack won’t, and instead pursue a professional career once postseason play concludes.
If this was, though, McCormack certainly went out with a noteworthy performance. His 22 points and 10 rebounds gave him another double-double this season. Redshirt sophomore forward Jalen Wilson went for a 17-point and 13-rebound double-double as well, but with senior guard Ochai Agbaji not hitting a shot from the field until overtime among the seniors McCormack stepped up the most in the time he was given.
More: Inside Chris Teahan’s journey with Kansas basketball, from fan to ‘folk hero’
Earning that Big 12 tournament title won’t come easy
This win means Kansas split its regular season series against Texas, in addition to Baylor and Texas Tech. It means the Jayhawks split their matchups against the rest of the top four in the Big 12, with the wins only coming inside Allen Fieldhouse. And while Kansas swept the rest of the conference, outside of TCU, five of those 12 games against the bottom six were decided by four points or less.
The Jayhawks have the talent to make a run and with the Big 12 tournament championship. But their conference showed Saturday, just as it has most of the season, multiple teams are capable of beating them. Just as Self and company will have the opportunity to make adjustments after playing these teams twice over the course of about two months, so, too, will their opponents.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.