Senior Night Honorees Wilson, McCullar lead Jayhawks to 67-63 win, share of Big 12 title
On what is likely the final home game for Kansas senior Kevin McCullar and fourth-year junior Jalen Wilson, the duo combined for 35 points as the Jayhawks defeated the Texas Tech Red Raiders 67-63 to clinch at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title.
Emotions ran high during the game, with multiple Jayhawks gesturing towards the Texas Tech bench after big plays. Dajuan Harris was spotted shouting something in that direction. Kevin McCullar took aim with a bow and arrow in the general direction of the bench after an early three-pointer. He admitted after the game that "I took it personal. I just wanted to win."
Both teams got off to a slow start, with a combination of good defense and poor shot selection on both sides. It seemed like the nerves were affecting the Jayhawks, especially early in the game. Bill Self agreed after the game. "I think the guys felt a little bit more pressure tonight for Senior Night and playing for a Big 12 Championship."
Trailing 7-4 after more than six minutes of action, the Jayhawks ripped off a 15-4 run to build one of their biggest leads of the night. The run was fueled by 7 points from McCullar, with some help from Harris, Joseph Yesufu and KJ Adams. Texas Tech's Kevin Obanor tried to put together a few runs, but Kansas turned back each one. After the Red Raiders shrunk the lead to 4 with 2:44 left in the half, Jalen Wilson scored 5 straight points to give Kansas the biggest lead of the game going into half.
The second half saw the Kansas trio of Wilson, McCullar and Harris take over the offense, as they combined for 26 of the 37 points scored by the Jayhawks in the half. But despite their efforts, Kansas was never able to pull away from Texas Tech. Up by 6 after an Adams free throw with 2:37 to go, Kansas surrendered 5 straight points. And even though McCullar and Harris each got a layup that put Kansas back up by 5 with just 8 seconds left, a De'Vion Harmon three-pointer with 4 seconds left required Gradey Dick to make two free throws to put the game out of reach.
Despite the early struggles shooting from the perimeter, Wilson led all scorers with 21 points. Dubbed as "one of the greatest winners in the history of Kansas basketball" by Bill Self after the game, Wilson added multiple winning plays with his 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, especially on a night where scoring from the rest of the squad was a struggle.
McCullar finished with 14 points on 5-12 shooting, including 2-5 from beyond the arc. He also had 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. But the biggest shot of the night was a loose-ball putback that showed off his hustle and gave him 1,000 points in his career in the process.
Harris finished the game with 16 points on just 12 shots, chipping in 5 assists and 2 steals. Gradey Dick struggled from the field, with his only points coming on four free throws. He did have 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal to contribute to the effort. And Adams finished with 7 points and 8 rebounds to round out the starters.
Up next for Kansas is the Big 12 finale against the Texas Longhorns, who still have to play TCU in Fort Worth on Wednesday night. A win for Texas would keep their hopes of sharing the Big 12 title alive. A loss would mean that the game in Austin could not affect the finish for the Jayhawks in the conference tournament seeding. Tipoff is scheduled for 3pm, with the game broadcast on ESPN.
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