Christian Braun buries four threes as KU Jayhawks roll past K-State in bounce-back win
Last year, wide-eyed freshman guard Christian Braun stepped up to hit six three-pointers and score 20 points in Kansas’ 81-60 victory over against Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse.
It was a performance totally overlooked because of the huge fight that broke out between the teams at the end of the game and, in the process, made national news.
On Tuesday, the 6-foot-6 sophomore out of Blue Valley Northwest once again starred offensively for KU against its in-state rival. He hit four threes in nine attempts and scored 18 points with four rebounds and two assists in the Jayhawks’ 74-51 victory played before 2,500 fans in the fieldhouse.
“This was a little different this year. We’re trying to turn things around, get on the right track,” Braun said after KU’s sixth conference win against four losses. A year ago, KU lost just one league game.
“It feels good to get a win like that in a game where we’ve got to beat them. To get a game in the win column, it just feels good,” Braun added.
Braun, who hit 6 of 11 shots, flushed a breakaway dunk and also completed a highlight-reel lefthanded hook pass to power forward David McCormack (18 points, 10 rebounds) for a first half layup. Those plays helped KU (12-6, 6-4) take a 33-25 lead into halftime over K-State (5-14, 1-9), which lost its ninth straight game this season and 15th straight overall in Allen Fieldhouse.
“Just let it go,” Braun said of the key to busting a shooting slump from beyond-the-arc. KU hit 9 of 29 threes to KSU’s 5 of 21.
“We’ve got good shooters, guys who are capable. Ochai (Agbaji, 2 of 5 threes, 15 points) is capable. Jalen (Wilson, 2 of 6 threes, 10 points) is capable. We’ve got to let it go, have confidence in each other, build each other up. It’s our job to make the shots,” added Braun, who entered 1 of 9 from three the last three games.
Of his dunk, Braun said: “It felt good to get an early basket for my first one. I missed a lot of looks I should have hit. It’s good to get that going early, feels good against them, too.”
Of the flashy pass to McCormack, Braun said: “I knew he was there. The lefthanded hook pass is something coach (Bill Self) has been getting on me since I got here in the summer. I like to throw it but it’s not always a great pass. It was great today because it worked. It’s not something coach wants me doing. The one-hand deal … today it worked. It’s something I won’t make a habit of doing.”
Of the pass, Self said: “That is one of those things — a ‘no, no, no, no, yes and don’t ever do it again’ type play. It was a great pass, terrific. I’ve been on him (Braun) for going left all the time and not being aggressive and going anywhere. That was really a good play he made.”
McCormack grinned when asked about the bucket he converted off that feed in the first half.
“I saw the ball the last second, jumped for it, made a quick shot,” McCormack said. “I’m glad it’s not going to be a habit, that way I know not to look for it.”
Wilson scored 10 points, while Tristan Enaruna came off the bench to score four points and grab four rebounds, while Mitch Lightfoot had five rebounds and four points.
“I am leaving happier. I thought we did some good things,” said Self. His team entered having lost four of its last five games. “I don’t think the good things we did translated to points all the time. I thought we guarded hard (KU hit 43.3% of its shots to KSU’s 34.0%). How many times did K-State score with under five seconds on the clock again? Those are things we harped on. Good teams are able to get stops in that situation. We did better, didn’t do it consistently. I am leaving that we got better tonight.”
Mike McGuirl and Nijel Pack had 10 points apiece, while Selton Miguel had nine points and six boards and Antonio Gordon eight boards and seven points for KSU.
The Jayhawks, who improved to 200-94 all-time against K-State, will next meet West Virginia at 1 p.m Saturday, in Morgantown, West Virginia. KU will then play Oklahoma State two days later in a Big Monday contest at Allen.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 9:06 PM with the headline "Christian Braun buries four threes as KU Jayhawks roll past K-State in bounce-back win."
