Jayhawks’ home win streak ends

LAWRENCE, Kan. – 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 the night before, players, coaches and players’ moms gathered around sophomore Thomas Robinson after his mother died unexpectedly of a heart attack.

“It just puts everything in perspective,” coach Bill Self said.

Robinson asked to remain with the team, and 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,” Self said. “I felt like we didn’t have much gas in the tank the second half.”

There was a moment of silence before the game for Thompson’s mother. He scored two points, got five rebounds and committed four fouls.

The Jayhawks (18-1, 3-1) had not lost at home since Feb. 3, 2007, the longest current streak in the nation, and were 7-0 at home against Texas since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996.

“They came in on fire,” said Jordan Hamilton, who had 17 points for Texas.

Texas 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.