Look who’s back in first: Jayhawks tied atop Big 12 after defeating Oklahoma State
.JPG "Kansas’ Joseph Yesufu drives past Oklahoma State’s Woody Newton in the second half of a Big 12 game in Stillwater, Okla., Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023.")
The No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks, who were mired in a funk after losing three in a row and four of five Big 12 games from Jan. 17 to Feb. 4, suddenly are tied for first place with Texas and Baylor in the league standings after Tuesday night’s 87-76 victory over Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
“It tells you a lot about this group,” KU guard Kevin McCullar said after scoring 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-of-3 from line) and dishing a career-high eight assists while helping cool off Bryce Thompson, the ex-Jayhawk guard who scored 14 points the first half but just three in the second.
“We’ve got the pieces to be where we need to be,” added McCullar, one of four Jayhawks to score in double figures. “The job’s not finished yet. The season is going to have highs and lows. In the Big 12 you are playing in the best conference every night. But yes, I’m proud of us.”
With five games left in conference play, KU is tied with Texas and Baylor at 9-4. There’s a bit of a drop after, as fourth-place Iowa State entered Wednesday’s clash with TCU at 7-5. K-State and Oklahoma State are 7-6, TCU 6-6 (before Wednesday), West Virginia 4-9, Texas Tech and Oklahoma 3-10.
KU, which won 78-55 Saturday at Oklahoma and by 11 points against OSU on Tuesday, was led by freshman guard Gradey Dick, who had a career-high 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting (4-of-9 from three). KJ Adams, like McCullar, scored 15 points and Jalen Wilson added 14 more.
Joseph Yesufu hit two big threes and scored eight points in 16 minutes while Ernest Udeh again was effective with two points, two rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes.
“Gradey was great. He was the best player in the game for us,” KU coach Bill Self said, once again noting that Dick “is the best freshman shooter I’ve ever (in 20 seasons at KU) had, hands down.
“Kevin without question was second best player: 6-of-9 from the field, made two huge plays. The big thing is eight assists against no turnovers against a team that can guard.”
McCullar scored two consecutive buckets (at 13:22 and 11:51), responding right after the Cowboys cut an 11-point deficit to five.
“We needed to make a little run. It’s a game of runs,” McCullar said.
In all, the 6-foot-6 former Texas Tech standout played 36 minutes Tuesday. He left for the locker room seconds after blocking a Kalib Boone shot with KU up 78-71. He appeared to step on a player’s foot going back down the court.
McCullar told the media he had a low right ankle sprain but did not expect to miss any time.
“It’s a little sprain,” McCullar said. “I was running back. I think I stepped on Boone’s foot. I was looking back at the ball and didn’t see him coming. I think I’ll be good though.”
Asked if he’d be able to play against Baylor (3 p.m., Saturday, Allen Fieldhouse), McCullar said: “I’m playing for sure. I’ll be out there.”
Point guard Dajuan Harris, who had five points and nine assists against one turnover (with two steals and five rebounds), twisted his left ankle Tuesday night.
He headed to the locker room for several minutes in the second half before returning for the stretch run. He hit a big three with 4:51 left to give KU a 76-64 advantage.
“I’m good,” Harris said as he left the arena toward the team bus without a limp.
Self noted that McCullar was “pretty nicked up. He and Juan both are. It seemed like it took a long time to do the tape job (on Harris). I thought it might be worse than it was.”
Self was asked about the Jayhawks leaving Stillwater tied for first in the league.
“Nothing. It doesn’t mean anything,” Self said. “OU, OSU, whatever. ... This league is so good. We’re happy where we are but I’m not putting such emphasis on (that).
“In the past when we were competing to win the league, we were competing against one team to win league. We’re competing against six or seven teams to win (the) league now. You can’t put so much emphasis on (it) in my opinion. You put emphasis on: ‘Let’s be the best we can be when it counts the most and keep grinding because there’s at least seven, maybe eight in our league that are at least second weekend teams.’ Oklahoma State is one of them.”
With the defeat to KU, the Cowboys fell to 16-10 overall and 7-6 in the conference. KU is 21-5, 9-4.
Regardless, KU has made a nice bounce back from that stretch when the Jayhawks fell to Kansas State, TCU and Baylor, with another loss to Iowa State to make it four in five. What’s followed are wins over Texas, Oklahoma and OSU with the KU-Baylor showdown on tap for Saturday.
“When we lost three in a row everybody said the sky’s falling. I was going, ‘It’s the league we’re playing in now,’” Self said. “There’s other teams that will lose three in a row as well.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 12:45 AM with the headline "Look who’s back in first: Jayhawks tied atop Big 12 after defeating Oklahoma State."
