K-State, UT smash Big 12 record with 219 points
Kansas State not only left Austin, Texas, with a key win on Tuesday night, the program also orchestrated a record-breaking effort.
The Wildcats’ 116-103 win at No. 6 Texas set a record for most points combined (219) in regulation of a Big 12 conference game, smashing the previous record of 199 points, set on Feb. 9, 2002, when Texas beat Colorado 104-95.
The 219 total points are the third-most ever scored in a Big 12 conference game, the only games outranking it involving multiple overtime periods.
It was also the most points an unranked team has scored over a top-10 opponent since Loyola Marymount lost to No. 10 LSU 122-114 in 1990.
Kansas State also set the mark for most points ever scored by an unranked team in a road win over a top-10 team in the Associated Press poll era, which began in the 1948-49 season.
While Jerome Tang, Kansas State’s first-year head coach, was shocked when told about the history his team had made, he said he’s more focused on the Wildcats’ defensive effort.
“We gave up 103 points,” Tang told ESPN after the game. “That’s what I’m concerned about.”
Tang, a former Baylor assistant who won a national championship with the Bears in 2021, earned a signature win for his program against the Longhorns. With a 13-1 record, he is just one win from matching last season’s 14-win total.
“I’m very happy for our guys and our staff and our university,” Tang told ESPN. “In this league, you have to watch it. We’ll celebrate tonight and then move on. It was a great game.”
Markquis Nowell led all scorers with 36 points. Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Tyrese Hunter and Marcus Carr combined to finish with 56 points for Texas, but their team’s 103 points weren’t enough to topple a Kansas State squad that started and finished hot.
The Wildcats, who never trailed in the game, connected on 54% of their 3-point attempts and recorded a 31-for-33 mark from the charity stripe.
Kansas State also sent the Longhorns to their first loss since head coach Chris Beard was suspended indefinitely without pay following his Dec. 12 arrest on a felony family violence charge. Assistant coach Rodney Terry, a former head coach at UTEP and Fresno State, has been acting head coach since then and had led Texas to five straight wins, including a victory at Oklahoma in the Big 12 opener.
Tang called his next team’s game at Baylor on Saturday “a big game” even without his history with the Bears.
He also said he’s not surprised that a team that features eight players who were not on last year’s roster has been able to blend so quickly.
“All the guys on our roster are winners,” Tang told ESPN. “We have players who have won eight state championships in high school [combined]. We have players who have won multiple NCAA tournament games. They came here because they wanted to win. Credit goes to them.”
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
