Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) makes a move to the bucket against Kansas State guard Coleman Hawkins (33) during the first half on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

After Kansas State’s two-big lineups vexed Kansas in the first half on Saturday, when the rivals emerged from halftime, it was center Hunter Dickinson’s turn to give the Wildcats trouble.

The 7-foot-2 center scored KU’s first 10 points of the second half, keeping K-State off balance with post moves, drives to the basket and a soft touch inside.

The Wildcats, previously mired in an early-season funk, didn’t make it easy for the Jayhawks, drawing within single digits on a number of occasions in the second half. But ninth-ranked KU held strong, even in the absence of longtime starting forward KJ Adams, and maintained its nearly-two-decade winning streak over K-State at Allen Fieldhouse, taking down its rival 84-74.

Guard Zeke Mayo hit four early 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, while Dickinson posted a game-high 25 with eight rebounds. Point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. stepped up with 15, his highest total since Dec. 4.

K-State’s versatile 6-foot-10 forward Coleman Hawkins presented a matchup challenge with KU frequently forced to play small, and led the Wildcats with 15 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Max Jones scored 11 and David N’Guessan 13.

The Jayhawks opted to stick with a two-big lineup with Adams out due to a shoulder injury and reaped the rewards early, as Dickinson and forward Flory Bidunga each scored once in the post as KU jumped out to a 7-0 lead and forced a quick timeout by K-State.

Mayo drained his second 3-pointer to extend the lead to 11 not long afterward and his third on the Jayhawks’ next trip down. The Wildcats missed their first seven shots before C.J. Jones sank a pull-up jumper to make it 14-2.

After checking in for the first time less than six minutes into the game, wing AJ Storr had a difficult time defending Hawkins in the post initially but made back-to-back buckets.

A series of misses up close by Dickinson provided the Wildcats a window of opportunity, and they crept back within single digits thanks to five straight points by the forward N’Guessan, as part of an 11-4 run.

A small-ball lineup with freshman Rakease Passmore had a bit more success and reestablished KU’s upper hand, but then KU gave up another stretch of seven straight points, largely engineered by Hawkins, who in the span of just over a minute hit his first 3-pointer of the game, then drew a double team to set up a wide-open dunk by Ugonna Onyenso, then ran the break to get Max Jones an easy layup that made it 32-24.

Mayo’s fourth 3-pointer of the day gave the Jayhawks a small cushion, though they allowed a response by Max Jones. After Dickinson slapped the ball away from Dug McDaniel on K-State’s final possession, KU entered the half with a 10-point lead.

The Jayhawks took advantage of 10 offensive rebounds to post 12 second-chance points in the first half and outrebound the Wildcats 23-13 overall.

Bidunga and Dickinson each incurred early defensive fouls, but Dickinson’s offensive outburst after the break helped KU keep K-State at arm’s length.

As soon as Bidunga went to the bench, Hawkins went to work again, scoring twice more against Storr against the post. However, Storr drained a key corner 3 to make it 56-43 with just under 14 minutes to go.

The two teams went through long offensive droughts near the midpoint of the second half, and Bidunga picked up his third and fourth fouls to restrict Bill Self’s lineup construction even further. K-State, after struggling on the offensive glass much of the day, got within single digits on a second-chance in-rhythm 3-pointer by David Castillo at 61-52, then again on another one at 68-59 following a pair of KU turnovers.

The sharpshooter Brendan Hausen’s corner 3 off an inbound with four minutes and 45 seconds to go capped off a 10-2 run and got the suddenly hot-shooting K-State the closest it had been since 18 minutes of game time earlier.

Hawkins goaltended a late-clock floater by Dickinson less than a minute remaining that essentially brought the Wildcats’ charge to an end.

The Jayhawks, who improved to 13-4 and 4-2 in Big 12 play, will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to face TCU on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Horned Frogs (9-7, 2-3 Big 12) play at No. 25 Baylor on Sunday.

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