Jayhawks avenge road loss to Oklahoma State

Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) shoots a three over Oklahoma State forward Mitchell Solomon (41) during the first half, Monday, Feb. 15, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

For the second time in a week, the Kansas University men’s basketball team got a little home-court redemption on a team that embarrassed them earlier this season on the road.

Six days after delivering a sweet dose of payback to West Virginia, the Jayhawks knocked off Oklahoma State, 94-67, avenging a 19-point loss to the Cowboys earlier this season in Stillwater, Okla.

Kansas, which jumped to No. 2 in the polls earlier today, used a pair of monster runs to defeat a scrappy OSU squad that was playing without injured freshman sensation Jawun Evans.

One run came at the end of the first half and the other — perhaps the more of the two — came midway through the second half after Oklahoma State had cut KU’s double-digit lead to six, 62-56, with 11 minutes to play.

KU (22-4 overall, 10-3) responded with a 24-6 run that knocked Oklahoma State (12-14, 3-10) out for good.

Landen Lucas again delivered a big night on the boards, ripping down 10 rebounds to go along with 14 points. Frank Mason III chipped in 14 points, five rebounds and six assists, while Brannen Greene added 11 points, Perry Ellis 15 and Wayne Selden Jr. 18.

Devonte’ Graham, Saturday’s hero in KU’s massive road win over Oklahoma, finished with 10 points and received by far the loudest roar from the home fans during the announcement of the starting lineups.

Here’s a quick look back at some of the action:

• The game turned when: Kansas turned a 23-14 deficit into a 47-34 halftime lead by closing the first half with a 33-11 run. Not only did KU’s offense get going, but the Jayhawks also turned up their defense to create easy offense in transition.

• Offensive highlight: Two really good offensive possessions helped Kansas keep Oklahoma State from running out to too big of a lead in the first half. First, with a little less than 8 minutes to play, Selden scored his first bucket of the game on a hard drive to the baseline and dunk in traffic. Selden went around, over and through three OSU defenders to get the flush. Then, on the next KU possession, which came after a steal by the defense, Carlton Bragg Jr. flipped a cross-court bounce pass to Mason, who first pointed to the spot he was running to and then got there in time to catch the soft bounce in stride. Mason immediately rose up for the rhythm three-pointer and swished the shot, cutting OSU’s lead to 25-22 with 7:03 to play in the half.

• Defensive highlight: Midway through the first half, when OSU’s Chris Olivier caught the ball in the post, he kept his back to the rim and made a move toward the basket in the middle of the paint. Cheick Diallo rose to meet the shot and swatted it out of bounds. On the very next possession, Olivier caught a scoop pass at the block from an OSU guard who broke down the defense and exploded off of two feet looking to dunk the ball. But there, again, was Diallo, who stuffed the slam dunk attempt. A couple of trips later, Diallo got a tiny piece of another paint attempt by the Cowboys. The official scorers did not give Diallo credit for that rejection, though.

• Key stat: Straight-up shooting. KU shot 50 percent for the game, including 11-of-21 (52 percent) from three-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line.

• Up next: The Jayhawks will head down I-70 on Saturday for a 5 p.m. Sunflower Showdown rematch with Kansas State in Manhattan. 

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