The University of Texas makes its third straight appearance on ESPN's Big Monday tonight when the No. 7 Longhorns (23-4, 10-2 Big 12) play at No. 25 Kansas State (18-8 8-4).
The Wildcats are in third place in the Big 12, and Kansas dropped to second behind Texas after its 61-60 upset loss at Oklahoma State
Texas has a two-game edge over Kansas (thanks to its victory in Austin on Feb. 11). And a victory Monday would make it next to impossible for Kansas State to catch the Longhorns over the last few games of the regular season.
"That's a big deal," Texas sophomore guard Justin Mason said of winning the conference title. "It's like wanting to win the national championship. Any big-time school wants to win its conference. That's always the goal."
But to win, Texas will have to slow KSU monster freshman Michael Beasley, who is making a run at matching what Texas' Kevin Durant did last season: become player of the year as a freshman.
Beasley is averaging 26.1 points and a nation-leading 12.5 rebounds. Those numbers are better than Durant's from last year (25.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg), when Durant made history as the first freshman to sweep the six major national player of the year awards at Texas.
With 44 points and 13 rebounds in a 92-86 loss at Baylor on Saturday night, Beasley posted his 23rd double-double, breaking the NCAA freshman record of 22 set by Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse in 2003.
In the last 10 years, only one freshman has recorded a 40-point, 10-rebound game (North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough during the 2005-06 season).
Beasley's 44 points broke the Big 12 single-game scoring record. His 28 points in the first half matched his own Big 12 record for a half previously held by Durant (26).Listed at 6-10, 235 pounds, Beasley is hitting 39.4 percent from 3-point range (28 of 71), best of any starter on the K-State team.
Yet despite those numbers, KSU has lost its last two and three of its last four. In the loss at Baylor, the Wildcats dropped to 12-1 when they score at least 80.
Kansas State coach Frank Martin on how his team will react after losing road games at Nebraska and Baylor last week: "We'll find out. Our last two road losses, I haven't been happy. I'd like to think the average person who follows this conference understands how tough it is to win on the road in this conference. We're a good basketball team. We've got to defend a little better."
Texas is one of the hottest teams in the country. The Longhorns have won their last seven games, and in the last two, they held Texas A&M (30.2 percent) and Oklahoma (26.4 percent) to their lowest field-goal percentages of the season.
Texas sophomore point guard D.J. Augustin is leading the way, averaging 19.1 points, 6.0 assists and 37 minutes per game.
Texas is 7-0 in February and closes out the month with the Kansas State game. The last time the Longhorns were undefeated in February came during the 1962-63 season when they went 8-0.
Texas has allowed 95 total points in the last two games, with opponents shooting 28.4 percent in that span. The Longhorns have held five of their last six foes under 40 percent from the field.
All three of Kansas State's recent losses have come on the road, but the Wildcats have won 11 in a row at home. They're 6-0 in Big 12 games at Manhattan, winning by an average of 21.3 points, including a pair of victories over top 10 teams.
Kansas State won 73-72 at Texas in the teams' only meeting last season.
Bet on NCAA basketball at WagerWeb.com Saturday.
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