 "Photo: AP")
Monday was D.J. Augustin's day.
Just hours after being named the Big 12 Player of the Week for third time this season, Augustin led the No. 5 Longhorns to a 74-65 victory over Kansas State, scoring a team-high 24 points in the process.
Augustin came out hot, giving Texas (24-4, 11-2 Big 12) an early eight-point advantage, scoring 10 of the Longhorns first 18 points by converting 4-of-7 shots, including both of his 3-point attempts, while his teammates struggled with foul trouble.
"DJ was terrific again," Texas coach Rick Barnes told AM 1300 The Zone. "He had control of what we wanted to do."
Connor Atchley, A.J. Abrams and Gary Johnson all spent a majority of the first half on the bench with two fouls apiece.
However, in the second half, Atchley and Abrams were on fire as they helped Texas go on a 24-15 run to close the game.
After playing to a tie in the opening half, the teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of the final period before Atchley's tip-in off an Augustin miss gave the Longhorns a 52-50 lead which they never relinquished.
Atchley finished with 14 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.
"Connor was huge tonight," Barnes said. "I thought [he] played like a veteran, he did a great job in the second half."
Abrams missed his first two shots before going to the bench with just eight minutes under his belt, but he was 4-for-7 in the second half, becoming the school's all-time leader in 3-pointers by hitting four in the half.
The win extended Texas' win streak to eight, giving it the first perfect February in 45 years.
Kansas State's National Player of the Year candidate Michael Beasley recorded his 24th double-double of the season in the period with 17 points and 10 rebounds before 30 and 15 for the game on 10-of-21 from the field.
"He's a very hard guy to guard because they're looking for him so much," Barnes said.
Beasley set the Big 12 record for points in a game with 44 on Saturday against Baylor while teammate Bill Walker finished with 31 points. Against Texas, Walker missed all 14 of his field goal attempts, scoring just a single point.
Texas led for most of the first period until a layup by Jacob Pullen gave the Wildcats (18-9, 8-5) their first lead of the game at 27-26 with just over two minutes remaining.
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