AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Enough about winning a share of the Big 12 title: Kansas wanted the crown all to itself.

The top-ranked Jayhawks grabbed it in emphatic style Monday night, romping over No. 23 Texas 86-56, an impressive exclamation point on yet another title-winning season.

“That was definitely motivation. We didn’t want to come out flat and thinking the league was over. We wanted to come out and win it outright,” Jayhawks guard Devonte’ Graham said.

Perry Ellis scored 20 points and Kansas settled the question of its undisputed title in the opening minutes with a barrage of 3-pointers, a steady diet of points from Ellis, and defense that gave Texas nothing easy.

“For 20-25 minutes, that was about as well as we can play,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We talked about we don’t want to share anything.”

The Jayhawks (26-4, 14-3) made 11 3-pointers, led by 24 points at halftime and sent Texas’ sellout home crowd headed to the exits early. Ellis finished 9-of-11 from the field.

Frank Mason III added 14 points for Kansas.

Javan Felix scored 13 points for Texas (19-11, 10-7), which has never beaten a No. 1-ranked opponent in nine tries.

Kansas, which spent two weeks at No. 1 in early January, looked every bit the part this time. And in a season the Big 12 finally seemed like it could crown a new champion, the Jayhawks stormed through the second half of the league schedule with a nine-game winning streak to take it again.

Kansas has won nine of its past 10 against Texas, but came into this one expecting a much tougher fight than the Longhorns put up.

With four wins already this season over Top 10 opponents, Texas looked like a team ready to grab another. The Longhorns came in brimming with confidence as the league upstart under first-year coach Shaka Smart. And after its impressive win two days earlier over Oklahoma, Texas turned out its biggest — and rowdiest — crowd of the season.

The Jayhawks greeted it with little more than a shrug and a scoring burst at the start that overwhelmed the Longhorns from the opening tip.

Graham and Mason made three 3-pointers in a 15-0 run as Texas missed its first 14 shots. Ellis dominated Texas’ front line for 15 points in the first half. His 3-pointer put the Jayhawks up by 21 points with 4 minutes left.

Even when Texas started matching shots, that’s all the Longhorns could do. The Jayhawks shot 66 percent in the first half and consecutive 3-pointers by Wayne Selden Jr., and Brannen Greene in the final minute sent Kansas into halftime with a 47-23 lead.

“We’re not going to be like this every night, but the guys had fun,” Self said.

The Kansas swagger seemed to get bigger with every basket. Ellis weaved his way to another easy layup, Graham swished two more 3-pointers and two thunderous dunks by Jamari Traylor pushed the Jayhawks’ lead to 67-36 with just under 13 minutes to play.

“I don’t think we were overwhelmed,” Felix said. “We didn’t defend well. We missed some shots … you can’t do that against a team like that.”

TIP-INS:

Kansas: The Jayhawks rank fourth nationally in 3-point percentage and have made 10 or more 3-pointers 11 times this season.

“We were moving the ball well. We didn’t take any bad 3-point shots,” Ellis said.

Texas: The Longhorns’ offense stalled mostly because Isaiah Taylor never got started. The point guard has been the catalyst for Texas all season — he’s their leading scorer — but started 0-for-8 shooting and missed several open looks. Taylor didn’t score until making a steal and a layup with 1:26 left in the first half.

Taylor finished with five points and took only one shot in the second half.

“He missed some shots he normally makes. We got lucky,” Self said.

TEXAS TROUBLES

Texas’ last four home games have included big wins over West Virginia and Oklahoma and blowout losses to Baylor and Kansas. In the losses, Texas’ smaller, guard-oriented lineup has struggled to match up against bigger teams.

Texas’ front line of Prince Ibeh, Connor Lammert and Shaq Cleare combined for just 11 points.

“In the past when we’ve had rough games we’ve responded well,” Lammert said.

WHAT’S NEXT

Kansas hosts No. 21 Iowa State on Saturday

Texas plays at Oklahoma State on Friday

— Associated Press —

FORT WORTH, Texas – Kansas women’s basketball nearly erased a seven-point deficit to TCU with 40 seconds to play, but fell just short, as the Horned Frogs claimed the 55-52 win on Monday night inside Schollmaier Arena.

Six-unanswered points, capped off by a three-point play from sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge brought the Jayhawks (5-24, 0-18 Big 12) to within a single point with 25 seconds left in the game. After a pair of made free throws from senior guard Zahna Medley of TCU, Aldridge earned yet another and-one opportunity, this time to bring the score level. Aldridge’s free throw missed the mark, and ensuing free throws from sophomore guard Chayla Cheadle after an offensive rebound could not find the bottom of the net and TCU escaped with the victory in the regular-season finale.

Aldridge and freshman guard Kylee Kopatich each tallied 10 points on Monday night, tying for the team-high mark. Aldridge netted double figures for the 19th game of the season, while Kopatich posted her 15th double-digit scoring effort. Freshman forward Tyler Johnson led the Jayhawks in rebounds, pulling down seven boards.

Medley led the Horned Frogs (16-13, 8-10 Big 12) in scoring with a game-high 21 points. Medley shot just 4-of-12 from the field, but was perfect at the charity stripe, sinking all 10 of her attempts. Senior forward Caitlin Diaz netted 14 points on 50 percent shooting and tied freshman center Jordan Moore for a team-high seven rebounds.

Both teams struggled to find a find a rhythm in the early going. Kansas grabbed a 6-2 lead with a three-pointer from junior forward Jada Brown at the 4:20 mark. TCU went nearly eight minutes between made field goals, and two free throws from Medley kept the Horned Frogs from being shut out during the same span. TCU’s six first-quarter points marked its lowest output in the opening frame this season and the Jayhawks’ best defensive effort in the first 10 minutes, as well.

TCU’s first field goal of the second quarter did not come until the 5:35 mark, a three from Medley. The Horned Frogs slowly chipped away at Kansas’ lead for the remainder of the quarter, but the Jayhawks held strong. At the intermission, Kansas held onto a one-point advantage, 19-18.

The two teams wrestled the lead back and forth early on in the third period, with six-straight baskets resulting in a lead change. A steal and fast-break layup from freshman guard Aisia Robertson broke the streak and pushed Kansas’ advantage to three points. A 7-2 scoring run on three-consecutive field goals later in the quarter grew the Jayhawks’ lead to seven points and forced TCU head coach Raegan Pebley to call a timeout with 1:38 left in the period. The Horned Frogs locked in after, scoring the final six points of the quarter to bring the game back within one point.

Neither team put points on the scoreboard for the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, before another three-ball from Medley turned the game back in TCU’s favor. The Horned Frogs put in six-unanswered points before free throws from Johnson at the 5:20 mark ended the cold spell. Just over a minute later, Johnson connected on her third field goal of the night to pull the Jayhawks to within a point.

With less than 50 seconds left in the contest, Medley sank two free throws to put TCU up by seven. Kansas continued to fight, and battled back to within one point again with five-straight points from Aldridge. The Jayhawks took three trips to the free throw line with the chance to tie the game, but missed the mark on each of them. Redshirt junior guard Timeka O’Neal launched a three-pointer just before the buzzer with the chance to force overtime, but the shot fell short, giving TCU the 55-52 win.

— KU Athletics —