Manhattan, Kansas — Years ago, it used to be a given that when the Kansas men’s basketball team went west, they came home from Bramlage Coliseum with a victory.
These days, the opposite has become true.
For the third year in a row, the Jayhawks fell at K-State, this one in far worse fashion than the 80-73 final score indicated.
• PHOTO GALLERY FROM MANHATTAN
The Jayhawks struggled to get stops from start to finish and went cold midway through the game. That set the stage for the Wildcats to lead by double digits for most of the second half en route to the easy win over their in-state rivals.
The win was the fifth in a row for the Wildcats, who climbed above the .500 mark for the first time in a long time at 12-11. K-State is now 6-6 in Big 12 play.
Hunter Dickinson got his numbers again, finishing with 21 points and 9 rebounds on 8-of-16 shooting. And Zeke Mayo added 15 points while KJ Adams scored 13.
KU shot 50% from the floor and 6-of-19 from 3-point range. But it was the Jayhawks’ inability to get stops that crushed them. K-State also shot 50% from the floor but made 11 of 27 shots from 3-point range, many of them coming at key moments and as the catalyst for an explosion from the home fans.
Speaking of fans, the Wildcat fans who celebrated this one did so from their seats. Instead of storming the court after the victory, they partied in the stands with K-State head coach Jerome Tang jumping up there with them to put on a white cowboy hat and dance in celebration.
Perhaps that’s the best indication of where this rivalry’s at right now.
Next up, KU (16-7 overall, 7-5 Big 12) will return home for a Tuesday night clash with Colorado.
Tipoff for the KU-CU matchup at Allen Fieldhouse is slated for 8 p.m. on either ESPN or ESPN2.
Here’s a look back at some of Saturday’s action against the Wildcats in Manhattan.
LIKES
• Is AJ Storr gaining on it? – He’s still not anything close to what people thought or expected him to be, but, strangely enough, Storr looked more comfortable out there on Saturday than most of his teammates. And he produced as a result. It wasn’t a carry-a-team kind of effort. But on a day when KU needed to get offense wherever it could and whenever it could, Storr provided the Jayhawks a player who didn’t think too much or hesitate too often. He finished with 9 points on 4-of-10 shooting in 20 minutes. While those numbers certainly don’t pop or wow you, they stood out simply because Storr looked aggressive in getting them, unlike many of his teammates.
• It works when they run – It didn’t happen a ton, in large part because KU struggled so badly to get stops, but when they ran they were pretty good against the Wildcats. Two reasons for that: First, this team has athletes and, at times, can absolutely run at all five positions. Second, the more the Jayhawks score in transition, the easier the game becomes and the less they have to rely on running good offense to get points.
• Nothing else – And even those first two were forced a little bit. Simply put, this was a disaster from start to finish for Kansas and their trend of playing well one game and bottoming out the next continues. They were able to score early on — particularly KJ Adams, of all people — but that didn’t matter because they couldn’t get stops most of the way. It’s back to the drawing board for the Jayhawks now, with little confidence and a whole lot of questions still lingering.
DISLIKES
• Dajuan Harris foul trouble – KU point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. picked up 2 fouls in the first 3:46 of this game. But it was the first one that really hurt. Running back in transition in the game’s first 79 seconds, Harris clipped a K-State player on the leg with his knee to draw the foul. It prevented the layup but it wasn’t a good trade-off that early. Just over two minutes later, Harris picked up his second foul and had to go to the bench for the next six minutes. Self gambled and put him back out there at the 10:14 mark of the first half with those two fouls. Eighteen seconds of game time after he checked back in, Harris was called for his third foul and had to sit again for the final 10 minutes of the first half. After the loss, KU coach Bill Self said playing without Harris for a big chunk of the first half, “crushed us.” And he pointed to the need for Harris to be smarter/better in those situations, as a sixth-year guy, to help the team.
• Free throw shooting – Any time you’re struggling to score on the offensive end, as Kansas was for the final two-thirds of the first half, you have to be able to knock down free throws when you get to the line. The Jayhawks didn’t, hitting just 1 of 6 free throw attempts in the first half. That allowed the Wildcats to play from in front, build big leads and take an 8-point lead into the locker room at halftime. KU was better at the line in the second half (6-for-6), but because the Jayhawks struggled to get stops, the free throw makes were merely a trading baskets scenario and the damage done at the line in the first half lingered.
• Bad body language and look – It didn't take a long look to see that these Jayhawks really struggled when they got down on Saturday. Like they just didnt quite believe that they had it in them to overcome the onslaught of obstacles facing them, from turnovers and miscues to K-State 3-pointers and a hostile environment. That's been a common theme of this team for much of this season and continues to look like it might be an issue. Part of the fun of coming to Manhattan is the environment that they’re stepping into. Some of KU’s best teams have absolutely loved their time at Bramlage Coliseum, even when things didn’t go well, in large part because they had fun playing to the crowd and trying to quiet it down. So, there’s nothing wrong with a little back and forth banter. But on Saturday, KU didn’t have a whole lot to banter about and still did it anyway on a couple of occasions. Early on, after Hunter Dickinson scored his first points of the day, he turned to the K-State students and put his finger over his mouth in that “Shhhh” gesture. The crowd did not “shhhh.” Later in the game, after Zeke Mayo hit a 3-pointer that pulled Kansas within 8 in the first half, he looked to the crowd and smiled. A few dozen Wildcat fans promptly responded by pointing up to the scoreboard hanging above the court.
WHAT THE?
• KJ Adams’ latest lob dunk – It’s certainly nothing new to see KJ Adams on the finishing end of a lob. But this one was different. And special. After the Jayhawks hit Hunter Dickinson on a quick roll along the right side of the lane, he turned to the basket, looked for Adams flying to the rim from the other side and tossed a lob pass up to his wide-open teammate. One problem: The pass was a little low and Adams had to adjust while in the air. Luckily for the Jayhawks, he’s such an elite athlete that he was able to double-clutch to make the catch while hanging in the air and still had enough height and strength to finish the play with a dunk. Adams had one of his best offensive games in a while in this one, and delivering on a play like that served as a reminder of what he can bring to the offense when he’s not forcing shots or asked to do too much. Adams finished the day with 13 points, with all 13 of them coming in the first half.
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