Braun’s ‘big-time shot’ protects KU’s late lead in 67-61 victory over Texas Tech
Christian Braun had misfired on 8 of 9 three-point shot attempts when he hoisted yet another from the corner with 21 seconds left in No. 23-ranked Kansas’ 67-61 victory over No. 15 Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.
The 6-foot-6 sophomore out of Blue Valley Northwest High School swished this final try from beyond the arc and, in doing so, helped KU hold off the hard-charging Red Raiders, who had sliced an 11-point deficit with 2 minutes, 40 seconds left just before Braun’s crucial three.
“That’s a big-time shot, big time,” KU coach Bill Self said of the Braun shot that assured KU (17-7, 11-5) its fifth straight victory.
“Sometimes our guys shoot it better when they know they have to shoot it. Sometimes they are hesitant when they don’t have to shoot it,” Self added, noting Braun had to let the shot fly shortly after catching a perfect pass from Jalen Wilson.
“We had to shoot it because it was 3, 2, 1,” Self noted of the shot-clock countdown. “It probably put him in position after starting 1 for 9, probably gave him a little more confidence to shoot it aggressively because there was no other option.”
Tech’s Terrence Shannon misfired from three with 10 ticks left and Mac McClung also misfired from beyond the arc at :08, and that was it for the scoring in KU’s third-straight low-scoring game.
This victory over Tech (14-7, 6-6) was by far KU’s most impressive of its five-game win streak, Self told the media after a game in which the Jayhawks hit 41% of their shots to the Red Raiders’ 42.3%. Tech hit 5 of 15 threes; KU 8 of 26.
“I thought we played well. It’s the best we’ve played, (all year)” Self said. “I’m leaving out of here the best I’ve felt a long time about this group.”
KU committed just six turnovers to Tech’s nine and actually looked better on offense than in the last two defensive-minded wins — a 59-41 victory at Kansas State and 64-50 win at Iowa State.
“We actually played better offensively than what we scored. We missed a lot of good looks,” Self said.
David McCormack led the way with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with eight rebounds, while Ochai Agbaji had 14 points, Wilson 11 points and 11 rebounds and Braun and Marcus Garrett 10 points apiece.
“C.B. (Braun), OchaI and Jalen got off 23 threes, most of them really good looks (combining to hit seven). David was great. Marcus was great (five assists, three turnovers, three rebounds) and Bryce (Thompson, five points) and Juan (Harris, four assists, 14 minutes) were good off the bench,” Self said, adding, “We really guarded.”
The Jayhawks held high-scoring guard McClung to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting (2 of 6 on threes). McClung also had five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes. The Red Raiders were led by Marcus Santos-Silva and Kevin McCullar, who scored 10 points apiece.
“I do think this is probably as good as we’ve been on both ends,” Self said.
He quickly added: “We are not close to being where we want to be. We have two opportunities next week to gain on that. We’re certainly looking forward to playing two teams who cleaned our clock the first time.”
He’s looking forward to part two and three of the three-game gauntlet to close the regular season. KU will meet No. 12 Texas at 8 p.m., Tuesday, at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, then close against No. 2 Baylor at 7 p.m., Feb. 27 at Allen Fieldhouse. Texas beat KU by 25 points on Jan. 2 at Allen Fieldhouse; Baylor stopped the Jayhawks by eight points Jan. 18 in Waco, Texas.
“We’ve won five in a row. We beat a ranked team for the first time in a while,” Self said, listing some reasons for his great mood in leaving the fieldhouse on Saturday.
“I still think the attitudes are such that it’s the best they’ve been all year long. I feel this has been a good stretch for us. We haven’t always played well. We’ve gotten confidence through it. That’s why I’m feeling better because I think there’s another step with this team,” Self said.
He is elated about his team’s defense.
“We’ve become more connected defensively,” Self said. “We are showing flashes of being a pretty good defensive team. Guys are taking pride in what wins games. I’m not sure that was the case in January (during stretch in which KU dropped five of seven games and for one week left the AP poll after a 12-season stay). I think we were taking pride in what we thought won games as opposed to what we know now wins games.”
McCormack scored 12 points the first half on 5-of-5 shooting as KU, which led 10-2 out of the gate, held a 31-25 lead at halftime. McClung cashed a deep three to beat the halftime buzzer.
The Jayhawks maintained control until that late stretch in which Texas Tech shrugged off the 11-point deficit with just under three minutes to play to put a scare into the Jayhawks and their 2,500 fans.
“It’s a huge win,” McCormack said. “We came out with great energy, got off to a great start. This will carry us into our next games. We’ve got plenty of energy. It’ll help us moving forward.”
He said a key to completing a two-game, season sweep of Tech was, “staying cool, staying calm. There were times Tech got spurts. We didn’t let it get out of hand, stayed on top of it defensively and made the right reads on offense. We still didn’t hit the shots we need to hit. Once they start falling, it will be a much easier game for us.”.
The Red Raiders fell to 1-20 all time in Allen Fieldhouse.
This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Braun’s ‘big-time shot’ protects KU’s late lead in 67-61 victory over Texas Tech."
