Texas Longhorns

It was over when: J'Covan Brown hit two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions for Texas early in the second half. Not only did that put Texas up 12, but it kicked the offense into gear.

With Brown hitting his shots, Iowa State was forced to be more aware of where he was on the floor. That allowed Texas to more effectively utilize its other players and ball movement to get better looks as it stayed in front the rest of the way in the 62-55 win at the Frank Erwin Center Tuesday.

Iowa State was able to make a run late, aided by Clint Chapman's mental errors. Chapman took a ball off the rim and was called for goal-tending. One minute later Chapman fouled Tyrus McGree on a 3-pointer, giving away three easy free throws and allowing Iowa State to pull within six, 48-42 with less than four minutes left. The Cyclones weren't done there as they hit back-to-back 3s with less than 45 seconds left to make it somewhat interesting. But ultimately they could not overcome the hole they had dug for themselves early in the second half.

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Here are this week’s Big 12 power rankings:

1. Kansas: Bill Self said Saturday’s 69-66 victory at Texas was his team’s best win of the season. Not because the Jayhawks played particularly well against the struggling Longhorns, but because they found a way to grind out a victory in a tough road environment. Kansas is 36-7 in Big 12 road games in the past five-plus seasons.

2. Missouri: Ricardo Ratliffe scored 27 points in Saturday’s 89-88 win at Baylor, but many of those came on easy baskets against the Bears’ soft interior defense. The bigger story was the performance of point guard Phil Pressey, who had 18 points, seven assists and six steals in the Tigers’ most impressive victory of the season.

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AUSTIN, Texas -- Myck Kabongo had to sit and watch against Kansas.

Rick Barnes didn’t pull any punches when asked why.

“We need to run offense,” the Texas coach said.

Kabongo, a freshman, is apparently only capable of that when he is sternly reminded.

“When he went back in, he did exactly what he needed to do for us,” Barnes said.

By then it was too late.

That’s the theme at Texas lately. The Longhorns, who have dropped three straight in Big 12 play, are great late and terrible early.

In six Big 12 games, Texas has averaged 30 points in the first halves as opposed to 38.5 points in the second halves.

Kabongo’s inability to get his team into transition early is one of the main reasons why the offense has been so poor in the first half. The other is Kabogno does not have the court awareness it takes to understand when the best times are to run and when Texas should set up the offense.

Then there is the offense itself. Rarely does a post player make himself available for an entry pass. Therefore, Texas is resigned to passing the ball around the outside, hoping to get a decent look. And when they are there in the post, Kabongo, who is so involved in his own game, refuses to look.

“We wanted to run and run hard early in the game,” Barnes said after the Kansas game. “[The post players] were there and we never looked at them.”

Instead Texas settles for an outside shot. Sometimes it works -- Sheldon McClellan had three straight 3s against Kansas -- most times it does not, particularly after smart teams figure it out and adjust.

Texas figures out how to adjust as well. But, as is evident by the 2-4 conference record, by then it is too late.

We're eight days from national signing day and Texas continues to try to figure out its 2012 class.

Carter Strickland will join SportsNation to discuss all the latest news and what lies ahead for Longhorns' recruiting.

Send in your questions and join us at 2 p.m. CT today.