Courtney Ramey’s career day guides Texas past Kansas State, 70-59

Despite being without two starters — Jericho Sims and Jase Febres — the Texas Longhorns had few issues cruising past Kansas State on Saturday, never trailing en route to a 70-59 win.

In fact, the outcome was essentially decided as early as halftime, thanks in large part to a career showing from Courtney Ramey.

The sophomore guard opened the action with a triple on Texas’ first possession. A steal and layup from Matt Coleman III then provided Texas with a quick 5-0 lead before Royce Hamm found his first points with a strong finish around the rim, but after back-to-back turnovers from Andrew Jones, a Cartier Diarra layup cut Texas’ lead to just one, 7-6.

However, that was as close as K-State came to owning a lead all afternoon.

Donovan Williams cashed in on a three, and after David Sloan responded with a layup, Ramey did the same to give the Horns a 12-8 lead entering the first media timeout. By the second media timeout, the game still felt within reach for K-State, as six more Texas points, including two more from Ramey, only increased the lead by one, 16-11, but it was smooth sailing for the Horns from here.

On Texas’ first possession coming out of the break, Ramey finished for yet another layup to give Texas its largest lead of the half, 20-9, and after Diarra and Andrew Jones exchanged threes, Williams connected on the second of two free throws to push the lead to double figures, 26-16.

Moments later, a layup from David Sloan layup sparked a brief 4-0 K-State run to trim the lead to 26-20, but that would prove to be. Kansas State’s final field goal of the first half. Meanwhile, after a pair of free throws from Xavier Snead capped KSU’s 4-0 run, Texas responded for a run of its own; this time for 13 unanswered points, as nine more points from Ramey helped extend Texas’ lead to 39-20 late in the half.

In fitting fashion, after K-State attempted to cut into the lead with three points from the charity stripe, Ramey rained in another three at the buzzer, tying his career high with 21 points and nearly outscoring K-State himself as Texas took a 42-23 edge into the locker room.

On the first touch of the second half, Kansas State found its first field goal since the 7:40 mark of the first half courtesy of a dunk from Makol Mawein, who added a layup the next time down to account for a 5-0 run. But Texas quickly responded, as Coleman finished inside with a layup of his own. After numerous empty possessions from each team, Will Baker slammed a massive one-handed jam home, despite the foul, finishing the highlight play of his career and extending Texas’ cushion to 20 points, 47-27.

Despite the deficit, K-State continued to scrap, with some help from the Horns, as four Texas turnovers allowed the Wildcats to trim the lead to 15, 39-24, but as soon as they did, it was Ramey once again providing some offensive firepower, finishing a tough mid-range jumper off of one foot. The next time down, Jones finished for a layup, and just like that the lead was back to 19, 53-34.

Jones added Texas’ next points, a three, and this time, his bucket gave the Longhorns their largest lead yet again, with Texas in complete control up 21, 56-35.

Given the sizable deficit, essentially nothing that K-State did throughout the final 10-plus minutes of action mattered — the outcome was decided, and it had effectively been that way since halftime. And just as it had throughout the latter portion of the second half, Texas maintained a comfortable double-digit cushion as Ramey and Jones continued to find buckets.

Unsurprisingly, Ramey led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, continuing a hot streak that’s now seen him pour on 62 points in three games.

Jones and Coleman each joined Ramey in double figures with 12 points a piece, while the rest of the Texas roster added only 19 points. Nevertheless, it was more than enough for Texas to escape Manhattan with a blowout win to complete the season sweep over K-State.

Now riding a two-game winning streak, Texas will return home on Monday to host No. 17 West Virginia.