Update #10: Final, KU wins 67-65

Julian Wright continued to bail KU out offensively, as he hit a spinning two out of the timeout, and then grabbed a big defensive rebound off an OU miss. But Sherron Collins got out of control downcourt and turned the ball over while collapsing towards the baseline.

On the other end, Nate Carter got himself to the 20-point mark by hitting his 11th and 12th free throws of the night, pulling OU back within three points with less than three minutes to play.

KU tried to float a pass into Sasha Kaun on the offensive end, but it turned into a turnover as it went off his fingers and out of bounds. Luckily for KU, OU returned the favor, And Kaun was given a chance to make up for his miscue by following a Brandon Rush miss with his 10th and 11th points of the game, putting KU up 60-55 with 1:19 to go.

Brandon Rush pulled down a defensive rebound from a Longar Longar missed tip and got to the free throw line. He hit both attempts to put KU up seven points and let the KU bench breathe a sigh of relief with less than a minute to go.

Michael Neal came down off a ball screen and kept OU’s hopes alive with a deep three atop the key, and Brandon Rush hit just one of two free throws on the other end, with the Sooners still within range down just five. Longar Longar took a feed inside and slipped two off the glass to make it a three-point game.

OU gave itself one last shot, as Bobby Maze snuck in a putback on a Nate Carter missed three-point attempt. It pulled the Sooners within three points with just under eight seconds to go.

Russell Robinson hit two huge free throws to ice the victory. A late OU three-pointer from the corner was nothing but cosmetic, as KU escaped with a 67-65 win. Julian Wright and Mario Chalmers led KU with 18 points each. While Wright was huge in KU starting the game strong, Chalmers was big in the second half as far as free throws were concerned. He was 10-of-12 from the stripe for KU, and Sasha Kaun chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds. KU, now 13-2 in the league, put the pressure on Texas A&M to win its Wednesday contest at Texas to keep up with the Jayhawks atop the Big 12 standings. KU hosts Texas for its regular season finale Saturday at 11 a.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.

Update #9: 3:55, second half, KU leads 56-53

Bounces continued to go away from KU, as Darnell Jackson missed a pair of free throws out of the television timeout. But OU lost the ball out of bounds, and Julian Wright, now back in the game, hit a hanging two in the lane to give KU a little more breathing room with just under seven minutes to go and a five-point lead.

Taylor Griffin continued to be the Sooners’ energy guy, drawing a foul on a putback attempt and hitting a pair of free throws, pulling OU back within three. The Sooner defense then forced KU into a five-second call before inbounding the ball. Michael Neal hit a three on the inbound, making it a 12-3 Sooner run and tying the game, 51-51.

KU almost grabbed the lead back out of a timeout, as Brandon Rush’s putback of a Russel Robinson missed jumper circled the rim on a full lap and fell out. The ball came back to KU, and Rush got to the free throw line, hitting one of two to give KU a one-point advantage.

After Nate Carter missed a mid-range jumper, Mario Chalmers was fouled while running down a defensive board by Taylor Griffin. It was the fourth foul on Griffin, and was a double bonus trip for Chalmers, who hit both to put KU up 54-51.

After Russell Robinson was called for an offensive foul charging into the lane, Bobby Maze drove to the lane and floated one in high off the glass to cut the lead to one point once again. Mario Chalmers came back down to get back to the free throw line. He hit both free throws again, making him 8-of-10 from the line on the night.

Update #8: 7:48, second half, KU leads 49-46

Darnell Jackson poured in two points out of the timeout, giving KU back-to-back field goals for what must have felt like the first time in forever. Nate Carter came back with a baseline jumper, and after forcing a KU turnover deep on the offensive end, Carter drew the fourth foul of the game on Julian Wright with plenty of time left to go. After Carter took a seat on the bench with 9:13 left, Carter hit a pair of free throws. Immediately after, the foul call was given to Collins instead of Wright, but the sophomore forward remained on the bench.

KU continued to look sloppy and sketchy on offense, as Sherron Collins’ scoreless performance is proving to be a difference-maker. After another turnover, Taylor Griffin put a one-hander off the glass while fading away, drawing a foul with it. The free throw pulled OU within three points at the 8:05 mark.

Update #7: 10:24, second half, KU leads 46-39

Neal missed his hard-earned free throw, but Taylor Griffin was able to get back to the stripe himself while getting hacked on the putback. He hit one of two, cutting KU’s lead to nine points.

KU turned the ball back over, though, and Griffin then drew another foul on Julian Wright, giving KU’s leading scorer a trio of infractions on the night. Griffin hit both free throws this time, pulling OU within seven, as KU’s offensive flow has disappeared in the second half.

The Jayhawks turned the ball over again, this time with Sherron Collins trying to swing the ball to the corner for Brandon Rush. The pass was high, though, and KU called a timeout with the ball heading back in the other direction.

OU continued to grind its way back out of the timeout by getting to the free throw line yet again. This time it was Carter, drawing the third foul of the game on Darrell Arthur. Carter hit both, pushing OU’s run to 8-0.

KU was able to get to the free throw line itself, with Sasha Kaun drawing a touch foul in the paint while going up, and he hit just one of two free throws, and he did it again while going for a putback after a failed Sooner offensive push. Kaun this time hit both, getting KU back up by eight.

OU’s free throw fortunes then took a turn south, as Michael Neal missed from the line, as KU was given another chance to extend its lead in what is turning out to be another grinder of a game. Russell Robinson hit a free throw to give KU four straight points, keeping up the lead growing slowly.

Robinson came back down to work himself to the free throw line again, this time drawing another foul from Longar Longar. But this time he missed both. Longar responded with two points between a pair of KU defenders on the offensive end. Longar then swiped a Mario Chalmers baseline drive as the sophomore guard went up for a layup. Bobby Maze came down to hit a baseline jumper for OU, again making it a five-point game.

KU called another quick timeout, but turned it over while trying to get too cute with touch passes. Though after OU committed the same sin, Mario Chalmers threw down a one-handed dunk in transition to put KU up 46-39.

Update #6: 15:42, second half, KU leads 40-30

KU drew a foul on Taylor Griffin out of the halftime break, but after that, things didn’t go so well. After Sasha Kaun pinned a Bobby Maze layup in transition off the glass, it was followed by an easy two off the glass. Michael Neal then stole the inbounds pass and fed David Godbold for a three, quickly cutting the KU lead to nine points.

Julian Wright scored KU’s first points of the half on a left-handed finger roll cutting across the lane, giving him 14 points on the night. Godbold came back down to get to the free throw line after a foul, but hit just one of two, with the defensive board on the second being pulled away by Brandon Rush.

Both teams then swapped turnovers, and Mario Chalmers was able to get himself to the free throw line for the first time on the night. He hit both, putting KU back up by 12 points.

Nate Carter continued to hit back for Oklahoma, hitting a couple of free throws, as the Sooners have shown much more production ability in the second half on offense. That turned into a more spirited defensive effort, as Taylor Griffin forced a KU turnover on the other end, but he handed it right back on the opposite baseline.

Jeff Capel, though, handed back some emotional momentum for KU, earning a technical foul on the OU bench after the refs made a non-call against one of his players. Chalmers hit one of the two technical charities, and KU then drew a foul on Michael Neal after inbounding the ball at midcourt.

Chalmers compounded it with a slashing layup, putting KU up by 13, but Michael Neal hit a corner three while drawing a foul, pulling the Sooners within 10 points.

Update #5: Halftime, KU leads 33-19

Mario Chalmers scored two on a jumper after a pair of missed Tony Crocker free throws, but KU couldn’t bump the lead any more after turning the ball over in a three-on-two fast break situation.

Crocker came back to hit Oklahoma’s first three-pointer of the game with just under a minute to go in the half, snapping a streak of 10 straight Sooner misses from deep.

Oklahoma got one last chance at points before the half, but couldn’t capitalize off of a Sherron Collins missed layup.

Julian Wright led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, scoring in a multitude of ways. He also was pretty diverse on the stat sheet, with a couple rebounds and a couple of assists. Oklahoma has been hampered by a 1-for-11 showing from three-point land.

Update #4: 2:30, first half, KU leads 31-16

Tony Crocker took advantage of a back-door feed from Longar Longar after Mario Chalmers was well off on a three out of the timeout, but Wright hit a lengthy jumper afterwards. He then flushed a pair of free throws, giving him a game-high 12 points.

Longar scored his first points of the game in retaliation, dumping in a hoop inside, but couldn’t make it four straight after an offensive foul on Brandon Rush, as he missed a baseline jumper. Rush came back to finish a four-on-two opportunity with a one-handed dunk off of an Austin Johnson miss. It put KU up 29-16.

Oklahoma continued to be stone cold from beyond the arc, as a Michael Neal miss nearing the three-minute mark made the Sooners 0-for-10 from three-point range. Sasha Kaun threw down a two-handed dunk on the way back down, putting KU up 15 as OU has struggled mightily to produce points.

Update #3: 6:59, first half, KU leads 23-12

Robinson scored his first points of the game on an inbounds play right out of the break, putting the Jayhawks back up by nine points as the came passed the 11-minute mark in the first half. After that, the ball was turned over after Julian Wright and Sasha Kaun forced Longar Longar into an uncomfortable-looking turnover in the paint.

Robinson’s name kept being called, but it wasn’t for anything positive in the next minute. First, he was short on a three from the corner, and Oklahoma got the ball after Brandon Rush forced a tie-up with Longar on the rebound. Robinson then picked up a foul on the defensive end, but Sasha Kaun scooped a defensive board off of a David Godbold three-point miss, and then scored on a reverse layup on the other end.

Nate Carter continued to be Oklahoma’s most effective offense with an old-fashioned three-point play, but it was answered with a Russell Robinson layup – his second of the game. Carter came back and again earned his way to the free throw line, and drew the second foul of the game on Darrell Arthur, putting him on the bench for more than likely the final eight minutes of the first half. Carter hit one of tw free throws, and Julian Wright one-upped him with a put-back layup off of a Mario Chalmers miss, giving himself eight early points and KU an 11-point lead.

Wright continued to fill the stat sheet with a swat of Nate Carter, but he couldn’t capitalize on a baseline jumper on the offensive end, keeping KU up by 11.

Update #2: 11:49, first half, KU leads 15-8

Nate Carter hit a couple free throws out of the game’s first television timeout, and Griffin came back into the game after leaving earlier with a back tweak.

Darnell Jackson, returning to his home state, answered back by tipping in a missed Darrell Arthur fading jumper.

Griffin then slashed down the baseline to reannounce his presence with a two-pointer, cutting KU’s lead to seven points. Austin Johnson drew a foul on Arthur right before the game headed to another break.

Update #1: 13:47, first half, KU leads 13-4

Taylor Griffin opened the game with a dunk for the Sooners, but Julian Wright was able to tie the game in the first minute with an inside layup.

Following a Michael Neal three-point miss, Wright hit another jumper, giving KU a 4-2 lead. Kellen Sampson, son of former OU coach Kelvin Sampson, missed his first shot of the game, getting a start on Senior Night. Wright followed it up with yet another two, starting this game much like he did against Nebraska a couple weeks ago, when he scored the game’s first eight points.

Nate Carter was able to answer with a long two, but the Sooner celebration didn’t last long. After Brandon Rush aired a three, KU took a missed three from Carter the other way, and Julian Wright redirected a long pass downcourt to Mario Chalmers for an easy layup. Rush then got his revenge with a swatted shot inside. After the block, Sasha Kaun scored his first points of the game on yet another assist from Wright.

Brandon Rush then made up for the airball with his first made three of the game, forcing the Sooners into a timeout with KU leading 13-4. After the timeout, Russell Robinson entered the game for KU after missing Saturday’s game with a sprained right foot.

Pregame

Of course, it doesn’t live up to the legendary status of the “Sports Illustrated Jinx,” which KU fell victim to earlier this season when the magazine picked the Jayhawks as the nation’s top college hoops group.

But over the past seven days, an unnamed curse has fallen upon teams ranked in the Top 5. It started last week with top-ranked Wisconsin falling Monday at Michigan State. After that, No. 3 Florida fell on the road against LSU, and Sunday night it was No. 5 North Carolina dropping an 89-87 decision to ACC rival Maryland.

The Jayhawks jumped to No. 3 Monday in both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll. They also face a road test which could be viewed by some as a trap game, tipping off tonight in Norman, Okla., against the unranked Sooners.

KU (25-4 overall, 12-2 Big 12) is riding a six-game winning streak down south, but all six of those wins came against Big 12 North opponents. Tonight, KU faces the fifth of six Big 12 South opponents it will see this year. The last encounter was a 69-66 home loss to Texas A&M on Feb. 3.

But not only has KU won six straight, they have been doing it in convincing fashion left and right. The most recent victim was Iowa State, who was downed 89-52 in Allen Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, with six Jayhawks scoring in double figures.

Tonight’s foe, Oklahoma (15-12, 6-8), was once a rising prospect for an NCAA Tournament berth, but now the only way those dreams can have a chance at coming to life would be with a win tonight over KU. Under first-year head coach Jeff Capel, OU brings a solid inside-outside combo to the table in forward Longar Longar and guard Nate Carter.

Carter, who has been one of the league’s hottest guards in Big 12 play, carries a season average of 11 points per game, while Longar leads the Sooners in both scoring (11.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg).