Stamp Texas a contender after KO of KU

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The first time he played at Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse, Gary Johnson remembers not being able to hear. The Texas forward could see Rick Barnes' lips moving when he looked toward the sideline for instruction – but he couldn't understand what was coming out of his coach's mouth.

"It was so loud," Johnson said. "I'll never forget that. It was just so, so loud."

That's why Johnson wasn't surprised to be facing a Jayhawks team that had won a national-best 69 straight home games when he returned to Lawrence two years later. This time, though, things felt different. As the final seconds ticked away, Barnes shouted at his players from the bench. This time Johnson picked up every word.

"The crowd," he explained, "was pretty quiet."

And somewhat stunned.

For the first time in nearly four years, Allen Fieldhouse fell silent Saturday.

Texas' 74-63 victory over the second-ranked Jayhawks marked the first time Kansas had lost on its home floor since falling to Billy Gillispie's Texas A&M squad on Feb. 3, 2007.

"It sucks," Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor said. "It's my first time losing here. It feels kind of weird."

J'Covan Brown scored 23 points off the bench and Jordan Hamilton added 17 for the Longhorns, who erased a 15-point deficit en route to their first win ever in Lawrence. At 16-3 overall and 4-0 in league play, Texas is the only Big 12 team without a conference loss. Previously unbeaten Kansas fell to 18-1 and 3-1.

"Last year they came into our house and destroyed us," said Brown, who scored 17 of his points in the second half. "That was on my mind the whole game. I just thought that if we got this win here, it would relieve some stress. This is good for our team."

And scary for the rest of college basketball.

Ohio State, Duke, Pittsburgh – and, yes, even Kansas – will continue to be hailed as the top contenders for the NCAA title. But after Saturday, no one can deny that Texas belongs on that list, too. The Longhorns already touted one of the country's most impressive resumes with neutral site victories over Illinois and North Carolina, a win at Michigan State and a two-point loss to Pittsburgh.

Handing Kansas its first loss of the season – on its home court, no less – was merely the cherry on top.

"They deserved the outcome they got today," Kansas coach Bill Self said of the Longhorns. "They were terrific."

Texas is one of the last schools any team would want to face in the NCAA tournament – and not just because the Longhorns have three potential NBA draft picks on their roster. Barnes, after all, has always been able to lure high-caliber talent to Austin. He's coached four Top 10 draft picks over the last eight years but hasn't made it to the Final Four since 2003.

Last season a senior-laden team featuring future pros Damion James, Dexter Pittman and Avery Bradley lost 10 of its final 17 games, including a first-round tournament defeat to Wake Forest.

"Last year it was every man for himself," Brown said. "It hurt us when we were losing. We didn't know how to get back together as a team. This year, when the season started, that's the first thing coach said: If we don't stay together, it's going to be a long season."

Indeed, the difference this year is that the Longhorns have a sense of cohesion, a chemistry that's been missing from Texas teams of the recent past. Maybe it's because of the laid-back, egoless personalities of freshmen starters Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, a pair of Canadians who have lightened the tension on the practice court and in the locker room. Or perhaps it's because seniors such Johnson, Matt Hill and Jai Lucas have provided the leadership that last year's squad so glaringly lacked.

Whatever the case, this is a frightening bunch. A talented team is one thing – but a talented team with a chip on its shoulder is something entirely different.

"In terms of record and what it means to Texas history, [this win is] impressive," said Thompson, who had five blocks. "But we have to keep working. It's old news now."

Maybe to the Longhorns, but certainly not to the Texas fans who will be reveling in Saturday's victory for years to come.

Kansas opened the game on an 18-3 run and led 35-23 at intermission. But early in the second half it was clear that the Longhorns weren't disheartened by the lopsided score or intimidated by the rowdy environment.

Barnes' squad ratcheted up its defense and forced Kansas to shoot just 26.7 percent over the final 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Texas tallied 51 points in the second half of a game that got extremely physical and, at times, heated. Each team was whistled for two technical fouls.

"It was one of those games," Johnson said. "They know our record, we know their record. They know what they're playing for and we know what we're playing for. In crunch time, it got a little chippy."

The biggest story of the second half was Brown, a sophomore reserve who scored 28 points against the Jayhawks last season. Brown epitomizes Texas' entire team in that he's fearless in the face of adversity. Brown missed an entire season of basketball after his senior year of high school so he could attend junior college to get his grades in order.

He's been a key player for Texas since arriving in Austin last season but has gone largely unnoticed on a national scale.

"He's one of those guys who feels like he's very underrated," Johnson said. "When he's on a big stage, if he can keep the crowd out of it by hitting big shots, that gets his motor going and he's arguably one of the best players out there."

When he awoke Saturday morning, Brown picked up his phone and saw a text message from former Texas star B.J. Tyler. Brown and Tyler attended the same high school (Port Arthur Lincoln) in Texas.

"Big players step up on big stages," it read.

Brown did just that. He scored 10 points in a 3-minute, 35-second span that saw Texas turn a 44-39 deficit into a 51-47 lead. The Longhorns never trailed again. Texas shot 63.6 percent in the second half.

"Some people don't give me the credit I deserve," Brown said. "Some people [said] I'm not going to make it in college. Before every game I just get on my knees and pray. If it wasn't for God I wouldn't be playing this game right now. For him to give me another opportunity to play this game, I just make it seem like it's my last every night."

Impressive as Saturday's victory was, the Longhorns still have a long way to go before snapping Kansas' string of six straight Big 12 titles. The Jayhawks certainly won't go away quietly. Kansas played Saturday's game with heavy hearts following the death of forward Thomas Robinson's mother Friday night. Most of Kansas' players were up all night consoling Robinson and slept an hour or two, at most.

Robinson played in the game and scored two points.

"We had some mental lapses," Taylor said. "It was more us than [Texas], but they capitalized. Every time we made a mistake, they scored. That's what good teams do."