Kansas forward David McCormack (33) roars toward the student section after a dunk against Texas Tech during the first half on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Energy, effort and physicality were not issues for the fifth-ranked Kansas men’s basketball team in Monday’s rematch with No. 13 Texas Tech.

Finishing, however, was.

Despite watching Texas Tech erase a 12-point second-half lead in the final minute of regulation, KU survived 94-91 in double-overtime at Allen Fieldhouse behind a hard-charging effort in all aspects of the game. The win helped the Jayhawks avenge one of their two losses of the season.

“I thought we tried hard,” coach Bill Self said at halftime on Monday night. “They tried hard. Two good teams. Competitive.”

As he has done so often this season, KU senior Ochai Agbaji led the Jayhawks (17-2 overall, 6-1 Big 12), but his teammates also did their part to provide the kind of defensive support and street-fight scrappiness that led to victory.

Of course, Agbaji’s career-high 37 points and seven 3-pointers, along with him delivering the biggest highlights of the night, did not hurt the way the raucous home crowd took in Monday’s victory.

With KU leading by 10 with just under 7 minutes to play, Agbaji caught a lob from Christian Braun and simply rose above the Texas Tech defender, who was in good position by the rim, to flush an alley-oop and give Kansas a 12-point lead.

As he came back down to the Fieldhouse floor, Agbaji displayed a smile as big as his hops.

No play was bigger than Agbaji’s 3-pointer to tie the game with 7.3 seconds remaining in overtime that set the stage for double-OT.

The Jayhawks opened Monday’s game with a surge of emotion, adrenaline and offense racing out to a 5-0 lead behind a 3-pointer by Agbaji and a two-handed hammer dunk from David McCormack.

Texas Tech’s Bryson Williams (33 points) traveled on the possession that followed the dunk and, in that moment, Allen Fieldhouse was essentially bursting at the seams with noise and emotion. It was a stark contrast to the lethargic approach that got the Jayhawks in trouble in their 75-67 loss to Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas, on Jan. 8.

It also was short-lived. Ninety seconds after KU claimed a 5-0 lead, Williams brought things back to a murmur with a 3-pointer that tied the game.

Kansas maintained the upper hand throughout the next several minutes, with Harris, Mitch Lightfoot, Martin and Agbaji all scoring buckets to give KU a 13-9 lead.

The stretch lacked efficiency, though. KU fell victim to a handful of empty possessions, a few turnovers and a little Texas Tech success. What was crystal clear throughout the first half and much of the game was that KU wanted to play as fast as possible, disinterested in letting the vaunted Texas Tech defense get set.

Never was that more evident than late in the first half when Agbaji scooped up a loose ball after a Texas Tech miss and, while standing sideways, launched it ahead to a sprinting Braun, who did the rest with a finger roll at the rim to put Kansas up 36-30 at the break.

While the halftime break offered both teams a breather from the slugfest on the floor, all of that air was gone by the first media timeout of the second half.

Williams scored seven quick points in the second half for the Red Raiders and the two teams combined for 25 points in the first 4:10 of the second frame.

While that made it seem like the defense slipped, most of those points came as the result of second-chance points and tenacious effort by both teams, a la KU’s showing in the second half at Kansas State last weekend.

KU now has won five in a row since losing at Tech earlier this month. The Jayhawks will return to Allen Fieldhouse at 5 p.m. Saturday to play host to No. 14 Kentucky in this year’s Big 12/SEC Challenge. ESPN’s College Gameday will be in Lawrence for the battle of the blue bloods.