KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice added 17 apiece, and seventh-ranked Texas took a 76-56 victory over the third-ranked Jayhawks in the 2023 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship title game Saturday night.
After going more than two decades without a Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three.
With interim coach Rodney Terry leading the way, the Longhorns built a 39-33 lead by halftime, extended it to 20 down the stretch and finished toward a shower of confetti during a net-cutting celebration.
Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and Joseph Yesufu, pressed into the starting lineup due to injuries, finished with 11 for the Jayhawks (27-7), who had won 13 of their previous 16 trips to the Big 12 finals.
Both teams were missing starters Saturday night due to injuries — Kevin McCullar Jr. for the Jayhawks, Timmy Allen for the Longhorns — yet there was still plenty of star power on display inside the T-Mobile Center.
Wilson, the league’s player of the year, kept the Jayhawks afloat during a scattershot first half. He scored 17 points, more than half their total, while pounding the glass and even picking up a steal.
Texas, meanwhile, relied on depth and balance in forging a 39-33 halftime lead. It had to after losing Disu, who already had been a revelation the previous two rounds, to a pair of fouls less than eight minutes into the game.
When the big man returned, he went right to work. Disu had a couple of baskets in the opening minutes, and a nearly five-minute drought by Kansas allowed the Longhorns to extend their lead to 53-41 with 12 minutes to go.
The knockout blow came moments later, when Disu’s baskets bookended one by Rice, and Arterio Morris threw down an alley-oop dunk to push the Longhorns’ lead to 70-50 with 4 1/2 minutes to go.
All-Tournament Team
Dylan Disu, Texas - Most Outstanding Player
Marcus Carr, Texas
Sir'Jabari Rice, Texas
Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas
Mike Miles Jr., TCU
A tie in the voting created six positions