Kansas Gives Texas Lesson In Humiliation

Though they may seem to mean the same thing, there’s a difference between embarrassment and humiliation. Embarrassment is trailing 60-30 and having the opposing team’s star player do a 360 dunk on you. Humiliation is having the other coach’s son- Kansas walk on Tyler Self- double his season point total with a driving bucket, plus one.

Texas (11-14, 3-9 Big 12) played its worst game of the season up at the Phog Allen Fieldhau5 in Lawrence, Kansas Saturday night, losing 73-47. The Horns shot 22% from the floor, including 2 of 21 from three-point range. They missed so many wide open shots that it looked like the point was to make as loud a clanking sound as possible. As if audio meters, not the net, was how scoring was determined. After awhile it got funny, just how many shots in a row Texas missed. Embarassment is dropping the soap in the prison shower.

The euphoria of Wednesday night’s double overtime win over Iowa State at the Erwin Center was as short lived as the period of time between banging one of the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and hearing her talk. Back from his 23-game suspension, point guard Myck Kabongo gave the team an almost spiritual uplift against ISU. Saturday night against Kansas, he was just lead clown in the farce. If Allen Iverson was "the Answer," Kabongo is just "Huh?" This guy is ready for the NBA like David Lee Roth was ready to take over for Howard Stern.

Ionannis Papapetrou isn’t ready for the WNBA. The teenager from Greece played like a dancer from “Grease,” and Jonathan Holmes also soiled the Sealy, letting some dreadful calls mess with his game head. We will give Holmes credit for the Horns lone highlight, a stuff of KU superstar Ben McLemore, who was going in for another slam. The ref called it a foul, of course, but Holmes knocked that future #1 pick on his ass, cleanly.

This season has been the lowest point of Coach Rick Barnes career since he couldn’t make it past the second round with Kevin Durant in the lineup. Yeah, I know this is the youngest team in the NCAA, but it’s full of bluechip recruits, like center Cameron Ridley (8th ranked nationally), who play with no joy or finesse. The way Ridley bricks free throws I don't know why opponents don't implement the "Ram a Cam" strategy. These guys aren't "one and done," they're "four and more;" best be staying in school to get their degree for a better job at the car dealership.

I’ve always defended Barnes, even though his rep is that he’s constantly up his players’ asses like a jalapeno burr. But after that shameful showing on ESPN Saturday night, I’m done being a fan of Hickory Rick, whose favorite offensive scheme seems to be throwing the ball around away from the bucket until the shot clock winds down and then hurrying up a frozen pumpkin. UT is paying this guy $2.4 million to embarrass, no humiliate, the university on national TV. Though Mack Brown makes a higher salary, Barnes matches him with $800,000 per conference win.

This is a lost season. It’s over. AA sponsors all over the state have learned to put their phones on vibrate during halftime of Longhorns basketball games, unless they want to be bothered. Even the NIT has gotta be thinking there’s no room for the pitiful Horns. All we can hope for now is that some of those babies on the court will grown into men next season. And some of the prized recruits considering Texas might fall in love with a UT gal while on their visit. They couldn’t possibly watch the way Texas played against Kansas and want to come play ball for that coach and with those guys.