Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) gets inside for a bucket against Harvard during the first half on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

For 34 minutes of Thursday’s 68-54 win over Harvard, Kansas junior Jalen Wilson struggled to make shots, played with little energy, didn’t make himself stand out on the defensive end and watched his team have to fight for everything it got.

In the final 6:24, though, Wilson made up for all of it by scoring 11 of his game-high 21 points to send fourth-ranked Kansas into winter break on a victory.

All of it — the good and the bad — came on the night Wilson eclipsed the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career. But there was no celebration or speech or special ceremony for Wilson after the victory.

“I’ll be honest with you, I was not pleased with Jalen tonight,” KU coach Bill Self said after the victory. “He didn’t guard his man. And he didn’t move the ball. And he kind of stood. But he closed the game out the way winners close games out. There’s 35 minutes of the game that (are) real important, but the last five matter more than anything else. And he played like an All-American the last five minutes.”

Wilson was responsible six consecutive Kansas points on three possessions late in the second half, the first two coming on baskets that pushed a 51-46 lead to 55-46 and the third on an assist to Bobby Pettiford in transition after Wilson charged up the court like he was running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

Mixed in there was a blocked dunk attempt by Harvard’s leading scorer, Chris Ledlum, and all of it fueled him to help the Jayhawks finish the Crimson off with a tip-in of a missed 3-pointer by Dajuan Harris Jr., a layup after rebounding his own miss and a 3-pointer with 1:07 to play that officially put the game on ice.

“For a team playing that well on our home court, (I was) already not in the best mood for that,” Wilson said after the win. “They were way too comfortable and a lot of that was on my part, and I felt like I owed it to the team to just close as hard as I could.”

Self said he reminded Wilson of what he needed to do more of “dozens of times throughout the night.” But it didn’t seem to click until winning time. While that irked Self in some ways, he also was more tolerant of the off night because it seemed to be consistent throughout the roster.

“He is a really, really good basketball player who I thought tonight didn’t play the way he had been playing to this point,” Self said of Wilson. “But I’m not sure our team did either. … I didn’t see Jalen, when he missed three in a row or (shot) an airball, guard his man harder on the other end. I saw his offense affect his defense, and we can’t have that. He knows that.”

Added Harvard coach Tommy Amaker: “Wilson is tough. He does so much for one person. He brings the ball up, posts up, defends our best player. He’s a really good player.”

Despite leading for 25 minutes of Thursday’s game, including the entire second half, Kansas (11-1) struggled to put Harvard away all night.

“I thought they played well,” Self said of Harvard. “It seemed like we only had a couple of chances to stretch it out and deliver at least a standing eight count — maybe not a knockout blow — and they responded every time.”

Whenever the Jayhawks built a lead of seven or eight points, Harvard was right there to make a play or two that cut it back down to a two-possession game. Even after Wilson’s personal stretch that pushed KU’s lead to 11 late, Harvard clawed back to within six (57-51) before finally succumbing.

On a night where the wind chill outside dipped to as low -27 degrees and the actual temperature was -3, Self said he was thrilled by the way the home crowd showed up and responded and disappointed that his team didn’t give them more cheer about.

“Something else that helped us tonight was our fan base,” he said. “It was awesome.”

Two stretches proved to be most critical to Kansas winning on Thursday night. The second came when Wilson took over late. The first came right before halftime, when Kansas responded to a 20-16 deficit with a 13-0 run and closed the half with a 16-3 advantage in the final 5:05 of the first half.

Freshman guard Gradey Dick (11 points, 7 rebounds on 3-of-11 shooting) was responsible for eight of the 16, knocking in a pair of free throws and two 3-pointers, including one that beat the halftimie buzzer to put Kansas up 32-23 at the break.

“We needed that stretch,” Pettiford said after the win.

Kansas also needed to find a way to win on a night when it didn’t quite have it and did just that. Consider this: The Jayhawks shot just 4-of-20 from 3-point range and won by double digits. What’s more, they won every major statistical category from rebounds (38-29) and steals (11-3) to points in the paint (40-24) and blocks (8-4).

“Every game should go (as) planned where you’re up 20 at half. That’s not life,” Self said. “The key to having great seasons isn’t winning when you play great. It’s winning when you don’t play great. So, this team did exactly what they’re supposed to do on a night that we didn’t make shots.”

Self continued: “Did we not play as well? Yeah. But if you go back and watch the tape, you’re missing the exact same shots you’ve been making. And I don’t think that constitutes a big difference in how you play. What I would say more than anything was we weren’t as turned up.”