APLAWRENCE, Ks. - The longest home winning streak in Kansas' vaunted history came to an end on a doubly sad day for the Jayhawks.
J'Covan Brown scored 23 points and keyed a second-half run that erased a 15-point deficit, enabling No. 10 Texas to grab a 74-63 victory on Saturday over the second-ranked Jayhawks and snap their 69-game home streak.
Shortly after 11 p.m. the night before, players, coaches and players' moms gathered around sophomore Thomas Robinson when his mother died unexpectedly of a heart attack in Washington, D.C.
"It just puts everything in perspective," said coach Bill Self.
Robinson asked to remain with the team, and with him coming off the bench, an emotional Kansas scored the game's first 10 points and led by as many as 15 in the early going. But Texas (16-3, 4-0 Big 12) outscored the Jayhawks 36-13 while turning a 12-point halftime deficit into a 59-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Cory Joseph.
"I think in more times like that — I could be wrong — I think you see teams get off to an emotional good start on things like that," said Self. "We played well, too. But certainly it was emotional. I felt like we didn't have much gas in the tank the second half. But a lot of it's because of Texas' play, too."
There was a moment of silence before the game for Thompson's mother. He scored two points, got five rebounds and committed four fouls.
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"They came in on fire," said Jordan Hamilton, who had 17 points for the Longhorns. "Then we came out in the second half and we played hard and coach (Rick Barnes) always said we are going to win this game."
Tristan Thompson had 10 points and five blocks in a bruising game that included two technical fouls against both teams. The Longhorns held Kansas, which came in with a Big 12-best shooting percentage of 52.4, to 36 percent. In the second half, Kansas hit a paltry 8 of 30 shots.
"Texas totally controlled the last 30 minutes of the game," said Self. "The second half they were terrific. Of course, we helped them be terrific."
Tyrel Reed had 17 points and Marcus Morris 16 for Kansas.
"Coach talked to us at halftime and told us that we have to execute plays," said Brown, who was 6 for 10 from the field and 8 for 10 from the foul line. "We were down early but we knew we had to keep playing. We just had to stay together and not break as a team."
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Brown's second 3-pointer in a 13-2 run finally wiped out the big deficit and gave the Longhorns their first lead, 45-44, with 10:39 to go.
"It was a great win for our program," said Barnes. "I can't tell you how much respect I have for Bill (Self). He's one of the best. He's the model of consistency and one of the best. To come up here and get a win — we've had so many great games with him where we've obviously come out on the other end."
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