Austin, Texas ? Brandon Rush scratched his head as he sat dejectedly on Kansas University’s bench, suffering quietly as the final seconds ticked off the clock Saturday night in the Erwin Center.

Texas 80, Kansas 55 is not what he envisioned prior to the start of the battle for first place in the Big 12 Conference.

“I thought it’d be another close game, not like that,” said Rush, who inexplicably scored a career-low three points off 1-of-8 shooting as KU suffered its worst loss in the Bill Self era, surpassing a 21-pointer to Villanova last season.

“It was embarrassing. They manhandled us, outrebounded us, whipped us.”

He and the Jayhawk players and coaches offered no excuses after the Jayhawks’ worst setback since an 84-53 decision on Dec. 3, 2000, at Wake Forest.

No. 7 Texas (24-4 overall, 12-2 in the league) was that good.

KU (20-7 overall, 11-3 in the conference) was that bad – uncharacteristic for a Jayhawk team that had won 10 in a row.

“I took stupid shots, didn’t take the open shot. I just didn’t have it,” said Rush, who wasn’t alone. “But they are real good, one of the best teams in the country and have some of the best players in the country like Aldridge.”

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points off 9-of-10 shooting with eight boards. He had 12 points the first half off 6-of-6 shooting. Freshman guard A.J. Abrams also had 12 the first half, canning four threes in four tries.

Abrams finished with 12 points, while P.J. Tucker, who was held to two the first half by Rush, rallied the second half to finish with 19 points off 6-of-13 shooting.

“We played bad,” KU coach Self said of the Jayhawks, who hit four of 15 threes to Texas’ 10 of 20. The Longhorns torched the best defense in the country for 55.1 percent shooting.

“But that was due in large part to them,” Self added. “I’ve not seen all the teams, but they were a team that can challenge for it all, tonight. They’d be tough for anybody to deal with. They were way too much for us tonight.

“Our team has done well. To play with a team that has a chance to win it all, especially at their place, we have to take another big step. The way it ended up, I told our team there’s another big step we need to take,” Self added.

Sparked by Julian Wright, who had 12 of his 18 points in the first half, KU led, 17-16, at 10:07.

But led by Abrams’ nine points and Aldridge’s four, UT went on an 18-6 surge and grabbed a 34-23 lead at 2:17.

KU trailed 42-33 after a Wright bucket with 17:59 left before Texas exploded on a Daniel Gibson- and Tucker-led 15-2 run, busting open a 57-35 lead at 13:45.

Gibson, a sophomore standout, had six points, and Tucker, a junior, four in the run.

“I thought there were some men playing against five guys not quite as old,” Self said, “especially when Tucker, Buckman (Brad, 12 points, nine boards) and Aldridge were out there. They combined for 25 rebounds. Our big guys combined for 10 collectively. That’s a tell-tale sign of some mature guys against some not-as-physically strong guys.”

Texas – which avenged last year’s 25-point loss to KU last year in Lawrence, also a game played as part of ESPN’s Game Day extravaganza – went on a late 9-0 run to stretch a 71-52 lead to 80-52 before Jeremy Case hit a three to slice the deficit to 25.

“They’re one of the best teams around,” said KU’s C.J. Giles, who had eight points and four boards. “If we were ever going to lose to a team, I thought it might be Texas because they are really, really good. We’ll just come back harder the next time.”

Down one game in the standings, KU will meet Colorado at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse and travel to Kansas State on Saturday.

Texas travels Wednesday to Texas A&M and finishes at home versus Oklahoma on Sunday.

Nobody yet conceding the Big 12 title yet.

“It’s one game,” Self said. “Texas wasn’t a bad team after the Duke game (losing by 31 on Dec. 10), and we didn’t become a bad team after 40 minutes tonight. The key is to not let one become two.”