Texas overcomes season of 'adversity,' wins Big 12 tourney title

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The players flooded off the Texas bench, right past interim coach Rodney Terry and to the middle of the court inside T-Mobile Center, where they couldn't wait to get their hands on the trophy crowning them Big 12 champions.

After the season they had, who could blame them?

It began under the darkest of clouds with their high-profile coach, Chris Beard, fired following a domestic incident. Terry was given the job and the tall task of guiding the Longhorns through a grueling schedule, and what many have called one of the toughest conferences in college basketball history.

But after finishing second to Kansas in the regular season, the seventh-ranked Longhorns proved Saturday night they were champs in their own right, blowing out the third-ranked Jayhawks 76-56 in the Big 12 finals.

Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points and was tournament MVP. Marcus Carr and Sir'Jabari Rice, who also landed on the all-tournament team, had 17 apiece. And just about everyone wearing burnt orange had a hand in shutting down the Jayhawks, who were trying to win a second straight tournament title.

«There probably hasn't been a team challenged as much in terms of adversity or staying the course,» Terry said, his voice long gone hoarse. «There was no nights off. This tournament, we knew, was going to be tough as well, but we were excited about it, and these guys' approach and their attitudes — they wanted to be champions, and they made it happen.»

After going more than two decades without a Big 12 tourney title, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three and likely wrapped up a No. 2 seed in next week's NCAA tournament with their performance in Kansas City.

«You only take this win for one night,»