On New Year’s Eve, No. 4 Kansas did its best to pay tribute to that team by overcoming a 15-point halftime deficit to secure a 69-67 victory over Oklahoma State. Much like the national championship game against North Carolina, it didn’t take long for the Jayhawks to erase Saturday’s 15-point halftime deficit in Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) needed all of 6:30 on the game clock to make it a one-score game in a rock fight of a Big 12 opener. At the 10:56 mark, Jalen Wilson gave Kansas a 52-50 lead with a triple from the left wing.

Trailing late in the game, Kevin McCullar Jr. buried a 3-pointer from the right corner to give Kansas a 65-64 advantage with 43 seconds left in regulation. The Cowboys then missed a wide-open triple on the other end.

Wilson added a pair of free throws, but Oklahoma State evened the score with a 3-pointer from former Jayhawk Bryce Thompson. K.J. Adams Jr. then notched the game-winning bucket with six seconds remaining during a frantic finish to end the game.

Second-half heroes, indeed. The Jayhawks outscored Oklahoma State (8-4, 0-1 Big 12) by a 39-22 margin in the second half.

So what changed? Well, the honest answer is not a lot.

Oklahoma State drilled nine 3-pointers in the first half to grab a 45-30 lead at the intermission. The Cowboys came into the game ranked 215th in the country in 3-point percentage, and their previous season-best performance was 13 triples.

You might believe Kansas made some second-half adjustments on that end of the floor, as Oklahoma State finished the game 13-for-29 from long range. But the truth is, the Jayhawks forced a ton of contested looks throughout the contest.

Kansas did make more of a concerted effort to crash the glass, an area where Oklahoma State thrived during the first half and has had success all season. It seemed like every huge bucket by KU came on a second-chance opportunity, including an impressive putback by Adams at the 8:19 mark that led to an and-one sequence.

KU fans did their part on Saturday, too, as Allen Fieldhouse has seen its fair share of these patented runs. Saturday’s performance was a gritty one by the Jayhawks, setting the tone for what’s to come in Big 12 play.

Kansas has now won 32 consecutive Big 12 openers, a streak that dates back to the 1991-92 season. KU will now travel to face Texas Tech on Tuesday before heading to Morgantown for a matchup against West Virginia on Saturday.