photo by: AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, left, pulls in a rebound as Colorado guard RJ Smith (5) defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, in Boulder, Colo.

Boulder, Colo. — On a day when Kansas could count on very little on the offensive end, it could at least rely on its old standby, center Hunter Dickinson.

Dickinson scored a season-high 32 points on 13-for-18 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, closing out Colorado with several key buckets late, and KJ Adams added a hard-fought 15 points, his best total in conference play.

The Jayhawks gave up a whopping 18 offensive rebounds and in the meantime scored just one second-chance point of their own, but CU (38.2% from the field, 20.8% from deep) was erratic enough that it couldn’t get much done with its own opportunities.

“We made that game way harder for ourselves than it really needed to be,” Adams said.

Still, in keeping with the theme of its brand-new season, KU did what it often hasn’t in the last two seasons and closed out an ugly win on the road, 71-64, on Monday night at the CU Events Center.

“I think it’ll do wonders for us,” KU coach Bill Self said. “We’re 2-0. Our season started against Oklahoma State … We screwed up the conference season. All we can do is finish up the conference season strong to prepare us for the postseason.”

He said the mentality of starting anew has resonated with his players because “I think we were searching for anything to grab onto. We needed something good to happen and that was the one thing that actually made sense to them.”

For CU, Bangot Dak led the way with 16 points, including a series of highlight-reel dunks, but was hampered by foul trouble. As in the prior game against the Buffaloes, KU held Julian Hammond III in check much of the night, but this time he drilled some key 3s to keep CU in contention late.

KU made its first six shots from the field, all from mid-range, including a pair of pull-up jumpers by Adams. Dickinson had six points and three rebounds by the under-16 break with the Jayhawks ahead 14-4.

“It was a big thing,” Adams said. “We haven’t started off games pretty well, and me (neither), so just me kind of personally getting those first two got my confidence up, and then lost it a little bit, but got it back when it mattered.”

KU inevitably cooled off and also allowed a 3-pointer to Colorado’s Andrej Jakimovski, but Dickinson had an answer, swiping the ball from Jakimovski and going coast to coast for a three-point play.

“I showed it so I got to do it all the time now,” Dickinson said, referencing a similar play against OSU on Saturday.

Dak scored back-to-back dunks for CU out of a media timeout midway through the half, and Bill Self immediately brought a halt to the proceedings with a timeout of his own. That didn’t immediately help the Jayhawks, who turned it over when the Buffaloes unveiled a zone defense.

KU got its lead back to double digits on consecutive buckets by Dickinson, who reached 15 points before 15 minutes of game time had elapsed.

Colorado didn’t score for nearly four minutes before Flory Bidunga goaltended a post hook shot by Jakimovski, and then KU allowed the Buffaloes’ ninth offensive rebound off a missed free throw, leading to a 3 by Jakimovski that got CU as close as 32-28.

“We just got to be more focused on that,” Adams said of the issues on the defensive glass. “Some don’t bounce the right way, but when you play in the Big 12 you can’t afford the rebounds that we gave up.”

After a tumultuous and turnover-laden stretch, the Jayhawks took just a five-point advantage into the break when CU’s Javon Ruffin laid it in at the buzzer to set the score at 37-32.

By halftime, the Buffaloes had a dozen second-chance points to KU’s zero.

The Jayhawks missed their first five free throws of the second half, and Colorado tied the game at 37 on a three-point play in transition by Hammond. Hammond even briefly gave the Buffaloes their first lead of the game on a contested shot at the right block.

“You got to make free throws to stem the tide, and we didn’t do that,” Self said.

The teams went back and forth with empty possession after empty possession. KU led 51-46 with the beginnings of momentum before it allowed Hammond to jog up the court nonchalantly and drain his first 3-pointer of the night.

Dak sparked CU with a pair of critical dunks as the Buffaloes continued to keep pace, but with 4:45 to go, he fouled Rylan Griffen on a shot beyond the arc, and Griffen made all three free throws. That was Dak’s fourth foul and sent him to the bench. Hammond responded in short order with another 3-pointer.

With 1:29 remaining, Dak came up short on the front end of a one-on-one with the Buffaloes trailing 65-60. Dickinson scored a layup on one possession and an alley-oop dunk on another, but CU kept pace with free throws as the Jayhawks committed a series of defensive fouls.

The Buffaloes, however, did not make a field goal for the final four minutes and 12 seconds.

“I’m proud of our guys, because we did hang in there and fight after it got kind of hard,” Self said.

The Jayhawks, who improved to 19-9 and 10-7 in Big 12 play, both won on the road and won consecutive games for the first time in a month — though Dickinson said the presence of copious KU fans in Boulder made it feel like a neutral-site or even a home game.

“I think maybe that’s why we were playing so good to start the game,” he said.

The Jayhawks will return to their actual home, Allen Fieldhouse, to face No. 10 Texas Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Red Raiders lost 69-61 at home to No. 4 Houston on Monday night.

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