It didn’t matter that they were young and untested. And it didn’t matter that they were picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 during the preseason with the weight of a national championship on their shoulders.

After Saturday’s 83-73 victory against Texas, Kansas’ seven newcomers have their own rings now. And as much as Kansas’ fifth straight Big 12 title belongs to All-Big 12 First Team performers Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, the program’s seven new faces helped earn this one too.

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Kansas Basketball vs. Texas

The Jayhawks win the conference title outright after defeating the Texas Longhorns 83-73 in Allen Fieldhouse.

“It feels good to have our own because it is Kansas and this is just what everybody expects,” freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor said. “If we didn’t do it, I feel like it would have been a failure almost. I’m just glad we got it done and it’s going to feel good when I have this ring on my finger.”

Against the Longhorns, the seven players who replaced the core of last season’s national championship squad combined for 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 12-19 shooting from the field and a nearly perfect 13-14 from the free-throw line.

Taylor said afterwards that he had grown tired of hearing how this team of mostly freshman and sophomores hadn’t earned anything. And after defeats to Syracuse, Massachusetts, Arizona and Michigan State in nonconference play, the celebration that occurred at the final whistle seemed like an unachievable dream.

“I think if you asked a lot of people in this room if they thought we could do it at the beginning of the season, they would have said no,” Taylor said. “I feel like we kind of proved some people wrong.”

The Jayhawks may have even proved Kansas coach Bill Self wrong. Self said Saturday that he never expected this sort of improvement from a team that suffered through a disappointing nonconference season.

But in the midst of adversity, Taylor, the Morris twins, Travis Releford, Mario Little, Quintrell Thomas and Tyrone Appleton matured. The young Jayhawks bought into Self’s vision for them, and victories followed.

Kansas won eight straight to begin the conference season — including victories over Kansas State, Texas A&M and Baylor — and the newcomers took turns stepping up and helping Collins and Aldrich carry the load offensively.

Taylor scored 20 points to help put away the Wildcats. Little dropped 15 points to keep the Aggies from spoiling the Jayhawks home winning streak. Marcus Morris had 13 points and six rebounds against the Bears on Big Monday.

And when every game became crucial, they stepped up again to ensure Kansas would finish the season on top. Against Oklahoma, Taylor poured in 26 points, and the Morris twins helped shut down Missouri’s Demarre Carroll to keep Kansas atop the Big 12 heap.

“Not only to win the league, but win it outright and match our team from a couple years ago with a 14-2 record speaks volumes for these guys maturity and how far they’ve come,” Self said.

And although Self said the seven newcomers arrived on campus with a slightly skewed idea of what it would take to succeed both individually and collectively, they figured it out in time to earn a ninth Big 12 title in 13 years.

“They just keep impressing us, and they impress me more and more,” Collins said. “I think its good for them to finally earn something so everybody can stop talking about last year’s team.”

— — Edited by Sam Speer