KU rallies in second half to beat Oklahoma 81-70, No. 1 ranking in reach
Bill Self had some choice words for Kansas’ basketball team at halftime Tuesday night.
“I can’t tell you the message. It was … I can’t even say it. Coach got onto us,” KU senior guard Frank Mason said after scoring 19 second-half points — 28 overall — in the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks’ 81-70 come-from-behind victory over Big 12 cellar-dwelling Oklahoma before a less-than-intimidating crowd of 6,638 fans at 11,562-seat Lloyd Noble Center.
KU trailed by nine points — 36-27 — after 20 minutes after OU outscored KU 24-6 over the last nine minutes of the first half.
“I think we responded well as a team,” Mason said.
He erupted for 15 points and Svi Mykhailiuk nine in a 29-11 run to start the second half that opened a 56-47 KU lead with 12:11 to play.
“We have to come out better to start the game off the first half,” Mason added.
Freshman guard Josh Jackson, who had four points and no rebounds the first half, had 12 points and four boards during the final half after the coach’s memorable message was delivered.
“He definitely got onto us. He gets on us a lot. We know most of the time he’s right,” said Jackson, who hit 5 of 11 shots and 6 of 8 free throws on a night KU made 40.3 percent of its shots, going 12 of 27 from three. KU was just 3 of 11 from three the initial half.
“We had to come out with more energy the second half, rebound and play defense,’ Jackson added.
Self’s motivational speech at halftime — “he was mad,” said Mykhailiuk, who hit three threes and grabbed seven rebounds in the final 20 minutes as KU blitzed OU 54-34.
“We didn’t rebound the ball well. We didn’t play defense. We bounced back in the second half,” Mykhailiuk said.
Self didn’t take any credit for whatever he said at halftime of what turned out to be a personal milestone victory. He claimed his 400th victory at KU in 14 seasons, securing the win in his home state against a former arch-rival.
“No matter what, you want to tell them how to attack better, whatever they are doing wrong,” said Self, a native of Edmond, Okla., who played college basketball at Oklahoma State. “I don’t know if they were ‘jolted’ at halftime tonight. Certainly I tried to.”
There was a lot for KU (15-1, 4-0 Big 12) to correct at halftime against OU (6-9, 0-4).
“We were so passive, soft. OU was quicker. They were better than us the first half without question,” Self said. “We didn’t rebound (OU outboarded KU 44-42, but the margin was 26-18 in the first half). We didn’t compete. The second half we challenged our guys a little bit. They came out and responded well.”
Senior guard Mason once again led the way.
He scored four points and Mykhailiuk six in a 13-0 run that opened the second half and turned a nine-point deficit into a 40-36 lead. Mason, who hit 11 of 19 shots on the night, scored 12 points in what became a 23-9 run to give KU a 50-45 lead with 13:49 remaining.
“Frank took over,” Self said. “Every team wishes they have one (go-to guy). We’ve been blessed. I don’t know if we’ve ever had anybody who can score points in bunches like he can.”
Jackson also praised his senior teammate.
“He’s one of the toughest guards in the country,” Jackson said of Mason. “We all trust him a lot. When he gets going like that, we just try to find him in transition and halfcourt. He did a good job today.”
Mason was just two points off his career scoring high of 30. He hit 4 threes in 4 tries the second half and overall was 5 of 6 from three.
“I was taking what the defense gives me. I was driving the ball downhill, creating for teammates and myself,” said Mason, who had five assists, three rebounds, three turnovers and two steals in 37 minutes. “I felt I was in rhythm every shot. All the threes I made were (off) pretty good shot selection.”
Devonté Graham scored 13 points, while Landen Lucas had 13 rebounds and 10 points for a KU team that figures to be ranked No. 1 next week if the Jayhawks can beat Oklahoma State on Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. No. 1 Baylor was throttled by West Virginia 89-68 on Tuesday in Morgantown, W.Va.
“I was happy Baylor jumped us (this week),” Self said. “To be candid, we don’t deserve that (No. 1 ranking). I’ve coached a while and I felt like some teams have put in the time and effort and toughness to earn that. I don’t think this team quite has. If we win Saturday, we could go to that. I’d rather be 5-0 than ranked No. 1 in the country.”
Self is now 400-84 overall at KU with his latest milestone win coming in his home state.
“Four hundred is nice,” he said. “I don’t think where we won it means anything at all. I’m sure there will be another milestone ‘first win after 400’ at some point in time maybe. It’s been a fun run, (but) that is not anything I’ll think twice about.”
Oklahoma, which dropped its seventh straight game, was led by Rashard Odomes and Kameron McGusty, who had 13 points apiece. Senior guard Jordan Woodard, who had missed the past four games because of injury and was ruled out of this game by coach Lon Kruger on Monday, returned to score seven points with five boards and five assists in 24 minutes.
“Not having Jordan has hurt them. He gave them a spark even though he’s not 100 percent,” Self said. “They will continue to get better as the season progresses. It’s a hard league. … They will be fine.”
Tip for KU-Oklahoma State is 1 p.m. Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. Oklahoma will meet Texas Tech at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, in Norman
Trae Young not in house
Trae Young, a 6-2 senior point guard from Norman (Okla.) North High, who is ranked No. 14 nationally by Rivals.com, did not attend Tuesday’s KU-OU game. He has both schools on his list of prospective colleges, as well as Oklahoma State and Kentucky. Trae’s dad, Rayford Young, was a standout guard at Texas Tech.
Young scored 43 points with 11 rebounds, seven assists and six steals in North’s 72-51 victory over Yukon on Monday night in the finals of the McGuinness High School Classic in Oklahoma City. KU assistant coach Norm Roberts attended the game.
Collison in house
Former KU forward Nick Collison of the Oklahoma City Thunder attended the game.
No. 2 KANSAS 81
OKLAHOMA 70
TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers
Kansas | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | A | F | Pt |
Lucas | 31 | 3-6 | 4-4 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
Graham | 33 | 4-11 | 2-2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
Jackson | 30 | 5-11 | 6-8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
Mason | 37 | 11-20 | 1-2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 28 |
Mykhailiuk | 34 | 3-11 | 0-0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
Vick | 22 | 1-6 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Bragg | 10 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Coleby | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Lightfoot | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Self | — | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 27-67 | 15-18 | 37 | 17 | 16 | 81 |
Percentages: FG .403, FT .833. Three-Point Goals: 12-27, .444 (Mason 5-6, Graham 3-8, Mykhailiuk 3-8, Vick 1-2, Jackson 0-3). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 3 (Bragg 3). Turnovers: 11 (Mason 3, Jackson 2, Lucas 2, Bragg, Coleby, Lightfoot, Vick). Steals: 6 (Graham 2, Mason 2, Jackson, Mykhailiuk). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: None.
This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 10:26 PM with the headline "KU rallies in second half to beat Oklahoma 81-70, No. 1 ranking in reach."