Texas and Kansas State both want to make a move up the Big 12 standings when they square off on Monday in a key conference matchup in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (16-9, 5-7 Big 12) and Kansas State (15-10, 5-7) are tied with Cincinnati for ninth place in the 14-team standings. The loser of Monday's game would slip into 11th with five games to play before the league tournament.
The bottom four teams after the regular season play in the tourney's opening round, meaning it would take five wins in five days to capture the title -- a daunting task.
The Longhorns head home after a demoralizing 82-61 loss at No. 3 Houston on Saturday. Texas never led in the game, falling behind by 23 points early in the second half and by as many as 26 points down the stretch while losing to the Cougars for the second time this season.
Dylan Disu led Texas with 16 points and seven rebounds in the loss as the Longhorns shot 38.6 percent from the floor, finished with a minus-11 rebounding margin and were held to their lowest offensive output of the year.
"The (Houston) game got away from us a little bit toward the end of the first half, but we didn't come out with what we have to do in terms of physicality," Texas coach Rodney Terry said after the loss. "You have to stand your ground."
The Wildcats travel to Austin on the heels of a last-second 75-72 loss at home to TCU on Saturday. Cam Carter made two free throws for Kansas State with 15 seconds remaining to tie the game at 72 before TCU hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Tylor Perry led the Wildcats with 24 points while David N'Guessan added 12 and Arthur Kaluma had 11 in the loss. Kansas State has dropped two straight games and six of their past seven.
"Our guys fought," Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said Saturday. "We aren't always the smartest, and we can try to correct some of that. But they gave everything they had. There's nobody in the locker room that's panicking.
"This is a Big 12 game that comes down to one possession and we can figure out how to correct one or two possessions and flip this thing. We have to move on to the next one because we have a Texas Longhorn team that's playing at home that's in some of the same situations that we're in."
More must-reads: