No nailbiter this time: Kansas Jayhawks cruise past OSU Cowboys for Big Monday win
After a week in which No. 6-ranked Kansas lost to Texas by three points, then defeated Oklahoma by a mere bucket, Kansas’ men’s basketball players cherished their 76-62 blowout victory over Oklahoma State on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
“There’s a sense of relief knowing we’ve got the game sealed,” KU senior power forward David McCormack said after scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in 28 minutes. He was one of five KU starters to score in double figures as the Jayhawks (21-4, 10-2 Big 12) led by as many as 26 points with 10 minutes to play.
“I’m happy we got out of here without having to sweat too hard. We still need to be better,” KU coach Bill Self said, echoing McCormack’s sentiments.
It classified as a lopsided victory, yet the game still had moments down the stretch that proved frustrating to KU’s 19th-year coach. He felt compelled to call a time out with 7:49 left in response to OSU cutting the deficit to 68-49. The margin dropped to 16 points with 6:41 to play.
However, KU then scored six straight points to basically halt any Cowboy hopes of a miracle comeback.
“That wasn’t a good finish at all,” Self said. The Jayhawks missed 16 of their final 17 shots, finishing the game 25 of 64 from the field for 39.1%. OSU (12-13, 5-8) was 25-of-63 for 39.7%.
“Coach was really mad because we didn’t close the game out that well,” KU sophomore point guard Dajuan Harris said after scoring 12 points (two off a career high) and dishing five assists with two steals in 34 minutes. He had eight points the first half and helped KU to a 38-28 halftime advantage.
“We were up by 20, 25. We’ve got to do a better job at the end of (the game). But if we keep sharing the ball and playing good defense, we’ll be in good shape,” Harris added.
The 6-foot-1 floor general from Columbia, Missouri hit 5 of 9 shots. He was 2-of-5 from three.
“Juan has to be a threat,” Self said. “He doesn’t have to score 15 points a game, but if he can get in that 8 to 12 range it certainly helps us. He has a great floater. He usually makes that little floater. Tonight he knocked down a couple threes as well,” Self added.
Harris’ career high in scoring is 14 points — against Iowa State on Feb. 1 in Ames and against Nevada on Dec. 29 at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Really I give credit to my teammates, mainly Ochai because he tells me every play to keep being aggressive,” Harris said of senior guard Agbaji, who scored 20 points on 5-of-12 shooting (9 of 10 from the free throw line and 1 of 6 from three). He says if they leave me open shoot the ball. My teammates and coaches tell me to have confidence in my shot, keep shooting it.”
Also, Christian Braun had 16 points and four boards and Jalen Wilson 11 points and seven boards.
The Jayhawks hit 19 of 27 free throws after making 13 of 23 in Saturday’s win over Oklahoma and 15 of 23 in the loss at Texas.
“You’ve got two guys 0-for-4 (Zach Clemence, Joseph Yesufu each missed two) when the game was over in the last minute and a half. So we were 19 of 23, that’s how I look at stats. When the game was in balance we were 19 of 23. We can live with that every night,” Self said.
The free throw misses came during a drought at the end. OSU outscored KU 8-0 the final five minutes.
“It was awful,” Self said of how KU closed against OSU. “We had a 26-point lead with about nine minutes left. That should be a bench-clearing deal at the 4-minute mark. It wasn’t. I’m not trying to be negative, but you can’t get outscored 7-0 every last minute of the game. That’s what happened again tonight when we subbed everybody.
“All in all, a good win. I would have taken a 14-point win before the game started, but I hate to go into the locker room when it goes from 26-to-14 just because we didn’t finish the game right.”
Guard Avery Anderson led OSU with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Former KU guard Bryce Thompson had 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting for the Pokes.
KU senior wing Jalen Coleman-Lands did not attend the game. He had a severe migraine headache Monday, Self said, and is listed day-to-day.
KU on Monday won its 10th conference game for the 28th straight season, a streak that started in 1994-95 in the Big Eight Conference era and is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I. KU has actually won 11 league games each year in that span. Gonzaga is second in active 10-win league streaks at 25.
KU, which improved to 35-0 in home Big Monday games in the 19-year Self era, will next meet West Virginia at 7 p.m. Central time Saturday at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 10:23 PM.
