Jayhawks hope second meeting with Houston Cougars turns out better than the first
A pair of epic breakdowns at the end of regulation and the first of two overtime sessions cursed then-No. 12-ranked Kansas in a 92-86 double-overtime loss to No. 7 Houston in a Big 12 men’s basketball thriller on Jan. 25 at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks squandered a six-point lead with 1 minute, 31 seconds remaining, then relinquished another six-point lead with 18 seconds left in overtime and eventually were outscored 13-7 in a second OT.
The late-game meltdowns, which included not getting the ball inbounded twice, wrecked what might otherwise have been one of the best games of KU senior Dajuan Harris’ college career.
The Columbia, Missouri, native, who gets another shot at Houston in an 8 p.m. ESPN Big Monday rematch at Fertitta Center in Houston, missed two free throws with 17 seconds left in the first OT, KU holding a 79-73 advantage. Instead of trailing by three possessions, the Cougars managed to hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 7 seconds to prolong the game.
“There’s not a point guard in the country I respect more than Harris. He is a winner. He had 12 assists, one turnover,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said in praising KU’s starting point guard on the school’s 2022 NCAA title team, who finished with eight points on 3-of-7 shooting (2 for 3 from 3) with 12 assists, two steals, one turnover and five rebounds against Sampson’s Cougars.
Harris played 45 minutes with fatigue perhaps causing the late free-throw struggles that contributed to a crushing KU defeat.
“I know the significance of winning in Allen Fieldhouse for anybody. There’s far better coaches than I am that haven’t won for different reasons,” Sampson said. “To win the way we won in double overtime speaks for this program’s culture, how tough our kids are and our ability to hang in there,” he added.
The 69-year-old Cougars’ coach on Monday will try to direct a season-series sweep of the Jayhawks and improve to 3-1 versus KU since Houston became a member of the Big 12.
Now ranked No. 4 in the AP poll, Houston will enter with a 25-4 record, 17-1 in Big 12 Conference play. Unranked KU is 19-10 overall and 10-8 in conference action.
The Jayhawks dropped four of seven games in the aftermath after the deflating home loss to Houston.
“We had numerous opportunities to win. We played really well. The kids fought their (butt) off and obviously just didn’t make plays when it counted the most, and (Houston) made every one,” KU coach Bill Self said after the game. “We played a team that could win a national championship and we actually controlled the game for the most part.”
A key stat came from the foul line.
“They were 17-of-30, a little better than we were (14-of-25),” Sampson said of free throws.
Houston’s J’Wan Roberts scored 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished five assists in 46 minutes, while Mylik Wilson had 18 points and six rebounds and Milos Uzan 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
“This young man here was a rebound and assist from a triple-double,” Sampson said of Uzan, a 6-foot-4 former Oklahoma Sooner. “He couldn’t do that in November (when Houston lost to Auburn 74-69 and Alabama 85-80, OT). He wasn’t ready. He was deferring, almost apologizing for not passing to somebody.”
KU’s Hunter Dickinson had 17 points and eight rebounds, while Rylan Griffen had 17 points (5-of-6 3’s) and seven rebounds, and Zeke Mayo 16 points and nine rebounds. Freshman big man Flory Bidunga scored 19 points with seven rebounds and a steal.
“He is a monster. He is really good, tough,” Sampson said of the 6-9, 220-pound Bidunga. “I was impressed watching him on film. I’ve seen him at AAU events a lot. Some of the kids we recruited played on the Adidas circuit with him. At one of those games in College Station (Texas), I said, ‘Who is that kid?’ Somebody said, ‘He’s going to Kansas.’ I went, ‘Of course he is.’ I don’t know him, but you can tell he’s a great kid, humble, does the right thing.”
Sampson expects another “physical game,” just like the first — one in which KU out-rebounded Houston 45-43.
“Both teams are knowing what it is they want to do to win the game,” Sampson said, “Our kids have a clear understanding how to win. November was a good teaching point for us. I thought we were good enough to beat Auburn and Alabama. I don’t think we were in position to beat them then. We had too much stuff we needed to get better at. This team has done that.”
Houston has won eight consecutive games, including Saturday’s 73-64 decision over Cincinnati in Houston that assured the Cougars their second straight undisputed league title. KU is coming off Saturday’s 78-73 home loss to Texas Tech. KU is 4-5 on the road and 6-3 at home in league action.
“We said we had a five-game schedule. We’re 2-1 right?” Self said. The Jayhawks have defeated Oklahoma State and Colorado and lost to Texas Tech since Self declared the squad’s record 0-0 after a road trip to Utah that resulted in losses to BYU and Utah.
“Can we go beat Houston? Yes. Now is it going to take an unbelievable effort? Yes, but that’s way it should be if you’re playing one of the best teams in the country. And we played one of the best teams in the country today (Texas Tech), and they shot lights out to start (in leading by 11 at half). We were on fire at the start, got anything we wanted. And then we leave a couple of guys and a couple of hesitations, and next thing you know we go from being up five to down six or seven pretty quickly. And then you’re playing catch-up the rest of the game.”
The Jayhawks will be playing Houston on the Cougars’ Senior Night.
“It’ll be hard, but it’d be a challenge playing them on any night. Probably a tougher challenge is getting these guys (Jayhawks) back up and and knowing they’ve got a hard game in 48 hours,” Self said. “We’ve got practice tomorrow at 11:30, so we can get out of here (on flight to Houston). That’s going to be a quick turnaround. That’ll be the toughest thing.”
The Jayhawks plan on putting the loss to Texas Tech behind them.
“It would be foolish of us to try to lament on this loss, because in 48 hours we’ve got to go play at least a top-5 team in the country on the road for their Senior Night. And so if we’re not ready for that, it could be very similar to last year,” Dickinson said.
Houston hammered KU 76-46 last March in Houston. KU in February 2024 tripped the Cougars 78-65 in Lawrence.
“We’ve got to definitely try to put this one behind as best we can, because we’re walking into a very hostile environment with a very good team that’ll be very turned up,” Dickinson added.
Noted senior KJ Adams, who along with Dickinson will take part in KU’s Senior Night festivities against Arizona on Saturday, March 8, at Allen Fieldhouse: “You lose to a top 10-team (Texas Tech), and in two days, you ... play another top-10 team again. You’ve got to have a lot of short memories playing in this league and try to build momentum when you have games like these.”
