Kansas has easy time in 73-47 rout of Texas

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Texas used the return of point guard Myck Kabongo to declare the start of a new season, but so far the new season is looking a lot like the old one.

The Longhorns had their starting point guard in the lineup Saturday, but it didn't do much to energize their offense. No. 14 Kansas smothered Texas and won 73-47 Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse to complete a season sweep and remain tied with Kansas State and Oklahoma State atop the Big 12 Conference standings.

"We defended great in the first half," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "They missed shots, but we still defended them. In the second half, the lid came off a little bit, but it was a balanced performance - not anything exceptional offensively, but defensively we were terrific."

Texas was swallowed up by the big-game atmosphere at Allen Fieldhouse, which had some extra buzz with former Jayhawk Mario Chalmers on hand to have his No. 15 jersey retired.

The victory put a bit more distance between the Jayhawks and the three-game losing skid that put their streak of eight straight conference titles in jeopardy.

"You've just got to go out there and play," point guard Elijah Johnson said. "That's what we're doing right now. Everybody is just playing. Nobody's thinking. Everybody is just going after what they think belongs to them."

Saturday's outcome was never in doubt as the Jayhawks (21-4, 9-3) limited Texas (11-14, 3-9) to 21.8 percent from the field and built a lead as large as 35 points in the second half. Travis Releford and Jeff Withey scored 15 each for the Jayhawks, with Ben McLemore scoring 13 and Johnson adding 12.

Withey also recorded two blocks to pass Chris Mihm of Texas and set the Big 12's career record.

"It's amazing what Jeff has done in a year and a half," Self said. "He has a chance to get about 30 more blocks over the course of the rest of the season to distance himself."

Playing his second game since returning from a 23-game suspension handed down by the NCAA, Kabongo was the only Longhorn in double figures with 13 points. Sheldon McClellan, Texas' leading scorer, finished with seven on 1-for-7 shooting.

Kansas broke the game open with a spurt to start the second half, getting seven straight points from Johnson before Releford hit a 3-pointer and finished a fast break to put the Jayhawks on top 41-19.

"You give a team like Kansas breathing room and they can be loose and free, (and) they make shots," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "All the things we talked about that we wanted to do, we didn't do."

The Jayhawks were able to pile on at the end with a 360-degree dunk from McLemore and a three-point play from walk-on Tyler Self, the coach's son.

"If he wouldn't have gotten fouled, it probably wouldn't have had any chance to go in," Bill Self joked. "The guy probably fouled it in."

Kansas and Texas entered as two of the top defensive teams in college basketball, and the first 20 minutes reflected as much. The Jayhawks led 28-15 after a half that saw the Longhorns shoot 19.2 percent from the floor and go nearly nine minutes without a field goal.

Kansas outscored the Longhorns 13-1 during that stretch, building a 24-9 lead on back-to-back baskets from Kevin Young and a layup from Withey. Connor Lammert finally converted a putback to snap Texas' field goal drought with 7:05 remaining in the half, snapping a string of 11 straight misses for the Longhorns.

Things didn't get much better for the Longhorns, who incurred shot-clock violations on consecutive possessions later in the half and finished with their fewest points in a half this season.

NOTES: Kansas retired the jersey of former Jayhawk Mario Chalmers in a halftime ceremony. Chalmers, who now plays for the Miami Heat, is revered at KU for hitting the 3-pointer that forced overtime in the 2008 national title game against Memphis. KU went on to win 75-68, and Chalmers was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. He holds KU's single-season record for steals and ranks second on the career list. ... Kansas entered the game leading all of Division I in field-goal percentage defense at 36.0 percent. Texas was second at 36.2 percent. ... The Longhorns debuted new Nike Hyper Elite uniforms.... Texas freshman Connor Lammert started a second consecutive game after coming off the bench in the Longhorns' first 23 games.