The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Kai Jones had a career-high night in the regular season finale and has become a mainstay in the rotation as the Texas Longhorns head into the post-season.

Jones scored a career-high 20 points, in Texas’ 81-59 win against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

It was his second career high outing against the Cowboys this season after he posted a team leading five blocked shocked shots in just 16 minutes of the Longhorns’ 76-64 win in January.

The Longhorns ended the season 19-12, 9-9 in the Big 1w. The Longhorns had been streaking in the right direction after five straight wins in conference play before last weekend’s loss.

Jones converted a career-best 8-12 field goals, including 2-5 on three-pointers. He also added seven rebounds (one shy of his career high) and two steals in 32 minutes.

His previous career high was 10 points against TCU on February 19. He topped the 20-point mark for the first time this season and reached double figures in scoring for the second time.

His previous career high in field goals made was four against McNeese State November 30.

Texas now shifts its attention to the 2020 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship. The Longhorns are the No 4 seed in the tournament and will open play in a quarter-final round contest against No 5 seed Texas Tech on Thursday, March 12.

The teams split the regular season match ups with each scoring a win on the road. Texas won 68-58 on February 29 while Texas Tech won 62-57 on February 8.

Earlier in the season, Smart lauded Jones’ effort following a win over the Central Michigan Chippewas.

“One thing about Kai, he has the best work ethic of any 6’11” player I have ever coached. That really is going to serve him well moving forward. A lot of guys 6’0”, 6’2” they get in the gym and work on their game, but he really works,” Smart said, “He works like a guard, most bigs don’t work great at that age. They’re still learning to work. All those guys that we’ve had at that position developed so much better work ethic during their time here and beyond. But Kai came in with a work ethic and drive to get better and he has big goals, so that says a lot about him.”

Jones, an incoming member of the 2019 freshman class, came to Texas as one of the top 50 Prep Basketball recruits in America. He was listed at No 49 in the final ranking of the ESPN Top 100 for the Class of 2019 following his standout season at Brewster Prep Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

A consensus four-star recruit, Jones earned a scout grade of 88 overall and was ranked No 13 among all centres, No12 in his region and No1 in the state of New Hampshire.