LUBBOCK, Texas — Darrion Williams had a perfect night for Texas Tech, and the Red Raiders never trailed in a lopsided 79-50 victory over sixth-ranked Kansas that saw Bill Self ejected for the first time in his 21 seasons as a Jayhawks player. coach.
Monday's 29-point loss matched Kansas' largest against an unranked opponent in the AP polling era (since 1948-49), the other being against Kentucky in 1950.
It was the 33rd time this season that an AP Top 10 team lost on the road to an unranked opponent, and the most through February in a single season in AP Poll history.
Williams, a sophomore transfer from Nevada, scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers. He also made both of his free throws and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“Give him credit because [of] your work habits and your trust in this team. … I think the game rewards those people who play the game to win,” Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland said. “What an incredible combination tonight of scoring, facilitating, rebounding and just winning.”
Williams' 12 field goals without a miss were the most against a ranked opponent in AP poll history. He was also the first player in the last 25 seasons with 30 points, 10 rebounds and a perfect shooting percentage against a ranked opponent.
Williams hit a 3-pointer on the first shot of the game for the Red Raiders (18-6, 7-4 Big 12). They went 8 of 12 from long range during the first 13 minutes to take a 27-14 lead.
It was a frustrating night for Kansas (19-6, 7-5), which played its second straight game without Big 12 leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr. and with guard Dajuan Harris Jr. missing full strength after rolling his left. two days before.
“We're beat up and tired right now,” Self said.
Self was ejected with 5:49 remaining after receiving two technical fouls in quick succession following an offensive foul against Hunter Dickinson under the basket, although that wasn't the only thing that bothered the coach.
“I didn't curse at him, I didn't yell. But I did say a magic word, I guess, a few times, which cost me a couple of technical points,” Self said. “I wasn't really trying to get me kicked out. But, you know, the way [were] With the game, I honestly feel like it's not called what it should be called.
“Regardless of whether it's our favor or theirs, it makes no difference to me.”
It was the 722nd game at Kansas for Self, whose only other ejection in 31 total seasons as a college head coach came in 1999, while he was playing for Tulsa in Wyoming.
“That was frustration, but I felt it all year,” Self said. “So, good officials… good officials, I just don't see it the same way they call it.”
Self said there has been a lot of physical activity, “more this year than in previous years.”
Self this month became the third Big 12 coach to be ousted for the first time at his school. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson received two technical fouls and was ejected with 15:08 left in a home win on Feb. 6, his first ejection in 10 years as Cougars coach. Sampson stormed to the other end of the court and began yelling at the referees for not calling fouls against Oklahoma State; His players and assistant coaches had to hold him down and take him off the field.
Baylor's Scott Drew, who also in his 21st season is tied with Self as the Big 12's longest-tenured coaches, earned the first ejection of his career on Feb. 2 after two technical fouls in a home win about Iowa State. Both fouls, one midway through the first half and the other with 11½ minutes remaining, apparently were due to him being outside the training area.
The Big 12 fined Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades $25,000 and issued a public reprimand for his criticism of officials after Drew's expulsion. Rhoades called the officiating in that game “a disgrace” to the league.
After Self left the court on Monday, Pop Isaacs made all four free throws to take a 63-43 lead. Warren Washington scored 11 points for Tech in just 20 minutes. He was limping when he exited the game with just over 16 minutes remaining, but returned about eight minutes later and performed a dunk before leaving for good.
Nicolas Timberlake and Johnny Furphy each scored 13 points for Kansas. Harris finished with seven points on 2-of-8 shooting, while Dickinson was held to five points and missed 10 of his 12 shots.
McCullar, who is averaging 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists, is in his second season with the Jayhawks. He made two NCAA Tournament teams while playing 79 games in three seasons at Texas Tech from 2019-2022.
Without McCullar and with Harris not completely healthy, the Jayhawks shot a season-low 32.7% (17 of 52) from the field. His 50 points were also the fewest this season and the fewest in a road game under Self. Their bigs, Dickinson and KJ Adams, combined for 3 of 23 field goals.
The 29-point margin matched Texas Tech's largest over the Jayhawks. The other was five years ago 91-62, also at home. None of the current Red Raiders players were on the roster at the time.
Unranked Big 12 teams are 9-3 at home against Top 10 teams this season.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
