Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) is comforted by Kansas guard Johnny Furphy (10) after McCullar missed the front end of a one-and-one and Kansas State recovered the rebound late in overtime on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 at Bramlage Coliseum. Photo by Nick Krug

Manhattan — For two minutes out of the halftime break Monday night, Kansas looked like it had been replaced by another team entirely. And on this occasion it was a welcome replacement given the disjunction that had defined the Jayhawks’ first-half effort at Kansas State — even as they led 32-30 at the break.

Instead, KU returned to the court with a fleeting performance befitting its newly reacquired (and now likely soon to be reassigned) No. 4 ranking.

Dajuan Harris Jr. maneuvered to find Hunter Dickinson in the post for an easy lay-in. The point guard drove to the paint and tossed another pass to Kevin McCullar Jr. for a corner 3. Then Harris and McCullar combined to run a picture-perfect fast break and set up Johnny Furphy to finish a lob at the rim. Three elegant baskets, seven straight points, two minutes, and a K-State timeout.

That swift stoppage may have saved the Wildcats.

“That’s when we should have put our foot on their throat, and we didn’t do that,” Harris said postgame.

They did try to do so for another minute or thereabouts, forcing an empty possession for K-State and then adding a Dickinson putback on the other end. But through a combination of poor ball-screen defense on Tylor Perry and straight-up bad luck — Adams and Dickinson had pretty accurate floaters spin out of the hoop — plus Furphy’s struggle to stand up against a hard-fought drive by Cam Carter, the Jayhawks allowed a game-tying 11-0 run.

“That was a big stretch of the game, from the 18-minute mark to the first TV timeout,” KU coach Bill Self said postgame.

By the time they could look back on the ensuing 20 minutes of game time — including overtime — they knew their execution following that timeout had cost them. A dispirited Dickinson said postgame, “It’s pretty frustrating when you’re up 11.”

“Coach told us at halftime when it gets to the 10-minute mark of the second half it’s going to be anybody’s game and the crowd’s going to get into it, so we just messed up on that,” Harris said.

Indeed, Bramlage Coliseum stayed pumped up for the duration as the Jayhawks were never consistently good enough to lower the energy of its rowdy student section. As Self put it postgame, any team would have struggled to play K-State in front of that crowd Monday.

Self did note Monday of the exchange of runs, “That happens in a game. There’s a lot of time after that.”

And certainly the latest installment of the Sunflower Showdown took numerous twists and turns. KU could also have won if it prevented any of the Wildcats’ last few offensive rebounds in regulation (vaguely evocative of its loss at West Virginia), or if it halted Perry’s improbable drive in overtime, or if it had forced a second overtime via McCullar’s free throws.

It wasn’t the first time the Jayhawks couldn’t close out on the road, though. At UCF on Jan. 10, they led by 16 in the first half, saw that lead trimmed to eight by halftime and then lost outright. Self said of that game at the time, “I told our guys in the under-4 timeout, ‘We’ve got to get this thing to 20 and not let it go to 10.’ Well, I should have said, ‘Don’t let it go to eight.'”

KU beat Oklahoma State in Stillwater with ease, but its other two road losses, West Virginia and Iowa State, featured a somewhat different formula: hot-shooting opponents who took advantage of KU’s perimeter defense with a mixture of shrewd play and good shooting luck, then fended off last-minute rallies by the Jayhawks.

However it keeps happening, it’s added up to four road losses in five tries for KU (though just three opponents whose supporters the Jayhawks have seen storm the court against them — Kansas State successfully prevented its fans from doing so as part of what head coach Jerome Tang called “building an expectation” of success against marquee teams like KU.)

Unlike the other three teams it lost to, KU does get Kansas State back at Allen Fieldhouse, where it remains unbeaten this year, on March 5.

Between now and then, though, it still has pending road trips to the likes of Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Baylor, then closes out the year on March 9 at a Houston team hungry for revenge.

Most immediate for the Jayhawks, who are now 18-5 (6-4 Big 12) and always preach taking one game at a time, is a tough Baylor team on Saturday in the Phog.

“We just got to come back,” Harris said, “come ready to play, and we got to rebound, close out late-game situations, get the rebound, we got to make free throws.”

In another familiar refrain, which Self cited Tuesday, they “can’t let one become two.” So far KU has certainly excelled at that, winning following each of its previous four losses.

Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) and the Jayhawks leave the court following their 75-70 overtime loss to Kansas State on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 at Bramlage Coliseum. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas State guard Tylor Perry (2) gets under Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) and Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) for an acrobatic bucket during overtime on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 at Bramlage Coliseum. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas guard Johnny Furphy (10) and Kansas forward K.J. Adams Jr. (24) chase down a ball with Kansas State forward Arthur Kaluma (24) during the second half on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 at Bramlage Coliseum. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang flexes as the Kansas State students sing the Alma Mater following the Wildcats’ 75-70 win over Kansas on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 at Bramlage Coliseum. Photo by Nick Krug