No. 14 Texas 68, No. 23 Kansas 54

Monday, February 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Ivan Wagner scored a career-high 19 points and Gabe Muoneke added 16 as No. 14 Texas stayed in contention for the Big 12 title with a 68-54 win Monday night over No. 23 Kansas.

Chris Owens added 11 points for Texas (21-7, 12-3), which remains a game behind conference leader Iowa State. It was Texas'
first win over Kansas (21-8, 10-5) since 1938.

The Longhorns are 7-2 against the Jayhawks overall, and 3-1 since the Big 12 was formed.

The defending regular season champions need to win at Kansas State on Saturday and hope for an unlikely loss by Iowa State to
either Texas Tech or Baylor, who are a combined 6-22 in the conference.

Kirk Hinrich was the only Jayhawks player in double figures with 11 points.

Texas jumped out to a 14-2 lead on 3-pointers by Wagner and William Clay. Owens then scored six straight points, including a layup when he slapped the ball away at midcourt and spun around two Jayhawks players near the basket for a layup to bring the crowd of
a 13,561 to its feet.

Texas was equally effective on defense, harassing Kansas into missing 13 of its first 16 shots and 11 turnovers in the first 14 minutes.

The Longhorns also shot 54 percent in the first half, thanks to six dunks on breakaway and alley-oop baskets. Muoneke had 10 points
in the half, six on dunks.

Kansas' frustration was capsulized on one play when Drew Gooden missed a 3-pointer. Three Jayhawks players converged on the long
rebound only to knock it to Clay. Clay beat the defense downcourt for a dunk and a 28-10 lead. The Longhorns led 38-21 at halftime.

Kansas finally showed signs of life in the second. The Jayhawks scored the first two baskets after halftime and Texas missed its
first five shots.

Kansas cut the lead to 42-30 on five straight points by Eric Chenowith and finally cut the lead to 46-36 on a steal and layup by Hinrich with 11:58 left.

Texas coach Rick Barnes called a timeout and the Longhorns came back with a 3-pointer from Wagner and yet another breakaway dunk by Muoneke to push the lead to 55-38.

Kansas twice cut the lead to 10 in the final five minutes, the last at 59-49 with 3:09 left, but hit just three field goals over the final seven minutes and couldn't make a final push. The
Jayhawks finished with seven assists against 17 turnovers and shot just 31 percent.

Longhorns junior Chris Mihm, considered the best pure center in college basketball, had a relatively quiet game with nine points in
what may be his last game in the Erwin Center.

Mihm was 4-of-8 from the floor and grabbed 12 rebounds as the crowd chanted, "One more year!" Mihm has not said if he will turn pro after the season.

Texas is 5-5 against ranked teams this season.