Hawking Points: Kansas Secures Another Border War Win
Allen Fieldhouse was amped long before tipoff but it took the Kansas Jayhawks a bit longer to make the environment. But in the end, KU moved to 3-0 since the return of The Border War with a 73-64 victory Saturday.
Key Plays
Elmarko Jackson got the first points of the game with a pair of free throws but KU struggled to convert early and it was Missouri who jumped out to a 7-4 lead at the first media timeout.
The Jayhawks hit just two of its first eight shots while Missouri hit a few threes and forced Self to call a timeout down 15-6 with 12:43 left. A Dajuan Harris drive and two Kevin McCullar free throws cut it to five. The offense came alive, with Harris finding McCullar for an alley-oop and Nick Timberlake hitting a three, but Sean East scored his eighth point to keep Missouri’s lead at five. KJ Adams cut it to three at the under-eight timeout.
Hunter Dickinson got his first two points of the game on a jumper with 7:13 left in the half. The Tigers stayed in front because of threes but refused to guard Adams on short rolls from six-feet out, as Adams was lethal from the paint.
It was fitting that Parker Braun was the player to tie the game for the Jayhawks for the first time. After a goaltending call, Jackson was fouled on a three and sank the free throw to put KU up 31-29. McCullar then buried a three to go up five. Missouri threw up an air ball and Harris finished in the lane. The Tigers turned it over the next possession and Adams hit another floater. Another turnover gave KU the last shot of the half and McCullar was fouled on a three as time expired and hit all three to send KU up 41-29 at the half.
Halftime belonged to Thomas Robinson, who had his No. 0 jersey retired into the Allen FIeldhouse rafters.
Kansas started the second half much like the first, turning it over and being sloppy, but a Dickinson putback and Harris finish kept the lead at 11. Dickinson then slammed home an Adams miss, but one-sided calls kept the TIgers close. Kansas was called for five fouls in the first 3:50 of the half while Missouri wasn’t called for any.
The game got chippy but Adams nearly tore the roof off with a chase-down block that was finished with a Dickinson and-one on the other end. Then Braun came back in and immediately sent another Missouri shot into the stands before slamming home an alley-oop from Adams to put Kansas up 54-38.
Missouri decided to throw it to Connor Vanover for multiple possessions, which cut the lead to 10. Nick Honor hit a three to cut it to eight with 7:30 left before a Dickinson jumper pushed it back to double digits. Then Adams broke the press and found a cutting Jackson for a layup and Dickinson hit another jumper to go up 13.
Missouri hung around and turned the ending into a free-throw contest. Harris hit two, Adams followed with two to keep it at 10, and McCullar made both — all as one-and-ones — to put KU up 70-60 with 1:16 left. Jackson hit another and then McCullar pulled down a rebound. Jackson was fouled running out the clock and made two more. Missouri scored with 0.1 seconds left to make it a single-digit result.
Eye-Catching Stat Lines
Kansas was down by as much as nine in the first half but closed the half on a 20-2 run as part of a larger 36-14 run in the last 12 minutes.
The Jayhawks had four players in double figures, led by KJ Adams and Kevin McCullar, who both had 17. Adams also had five assists while McCullar had nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Dickinson finished with 13 points (on just 6-9 shooting) and 16 rebounds and Jackson had 11, while Harris finished with eight.
The former Tiger, Parker Braun, finished with four points and two blocks in five minutes.
Kansas was great from the line, hitting 87% of its chances (20-23), but was just 3-10 from three. Missouri, meanwhile, hit 7-21 threes and was 9-13 from the line.
Offensive rebounding has been a struggle for KU this season, but the Jayhawks grabbed 13 – five coming from Dickinson – as the Jayhawks won the rebounding battle 42-25.
East and Honor were Missouri’s big scorers with 21 and 17, respectively.
Areas of Improvement
The sloppiness showed itself again. After two games with less than 10 turnovers, Kansas had 16 on Saturday. Jackson was the only starter not to commit a turnover and the other four accounted for 15 of KU’s 16. This isn’t a shock considering Missouri’s press defense, though something that is still going to be a struggle for Kansas.
This is more of a result of just having off games, but Kansas didn’t shoot nearly as well from the field as it has this season, hitting just 44.6% of its shots. Many of those were highly contested with a lot of contact, but especially early, KU missed a lot at the rim.
Takeaways
It was a choppy game that struggled to get much of a flow, especially in the second half, but Kansas was in control for the final 30 minutes and never in great danger of blowing the lead once it took over. Against a hated rival who is in the top 80 in KenPom, you take the wins however you can get them.
