Manhattan — On Kansas’ prior two visits to Bramlage Coliseum, Kansas State had needed overtime heroics to take down the rival Jayhawks.
On Saturday there was no such drama.
The Wildcats jumped ahead with a 12-1 run midway through the first half and got whatever they wanted all afternoon from then on, against a team that had prided itself on defense all through Big 12 play. Trading baskets in the 37-37 second half wasn’t enough for the Jayhawks as it had been on Jan. 18 at Allen Fieldhouse, and K-State ensured another split in the Sunflower Showdown by dispatching 16th-ranked KU, 81-73.
“I think this time they were the aggressor and they were just too comfortable, especially in the first half,” center Hunter Dickinson said.
The result ensured that for the first time since the 2005-06 season, the Jayhawks lost to each of their primary rivals, K-State and Missouri. It also dropped KU to 3-5 on the road this season, after a series of strong performances in away gyms in January suggested the Jayhawks might be turning the page from the 2023-24 campaign’s disastrous road showings.
Instead, they trailed for the final 29 minutes and four seconds on Saturday. The K-State win, even at just eight points by the end, featured the Wildcats’ biggest margin of victory in the Sunflower Showdown since 2011.
“I think we expected a better outcome, obviously,” Dickinson said, “but I don’t think we deserved it. I don’t think we played well enough to win the game from the start.”
KU could score well enough at times — Dickinson led the Jayhawks with 21 points and nine rebounds, and Zeke Mayo scored 15 in a turnover-prone showing — but it couldn’t compare to K-State’s offensive effort. The Wildcats got 20 points from David N’Guessan, a 15-point, 11-assist double-double from point guard Dug McDaniel and 12 points apiece from Max Jones and Coleman Hawkins.
“I thought K-State played unreal,” KU coach Bill Self said. “They shot it great, they were faster, they played with more energy, but we didn’t do anything to make them play out of rhythm at all. It was a very dull defensive game. Maybe (K-State coach Jerome Tang) would say the same thing too, because we got the shots we wanted.”
“They were just hot,” forward KJ Adams added. “They were using us a lot on ball screens, getting open looks and whenever we gave them a chance they hit it every time.”
KU allowed a deep 3-pointer to McDaniel to open the game but played reasonably good defense in the opening minutes, hampered somewhat by two early fouls on Dajuan Harris Jr. that forced Shakeel Moore into extended action. As was the case last year in Manhattan, the under-16 media timeout arrived late, and the Wildcats led 13-12 after the stretch of more than six minutes that preceded the first stoppage.
Adams, who had missed the first installment of the Sunflower Showdown with a dislocated shoulder, took center stage for the Jayhawks early on both sides of the ball. He had 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting by the midway point of the first half and also drew the challenging defensive assignment of Hawkins, as KSU repeatedly tried to use ball screens to get Hawkins switched onto the Jayhawks’ smaller guards.
With K-State leading 22-21 out of the under-12 timeout, Hawkins drove to the bucket and converted a layup through a foul by Harris, who immediately went back to the bench.
“It was tough,” Dickinson said. “I think that kind of goes to show you how important he is to the team, unbeknownst to some people on social media.”
The play was part of a pivotal stretch that featured 3s by McDaniel and C.J. Jones.
“I think it crushed us,” Self said of Harris’ fouls. “And they were bad plays. I didn’t see the last one, they said he tripped him, is that right? … How do you put yourself in that position, being a sixth-year senior? That was tough. Playing without Juan, guys, is not good for us. We need him out there for some stability, without question.”
The Jayhawks trailed by as many as 12 before AJ Storr connected from deep with just over five minutes left in the half. Their defense continued to put up little resistance until head coach Bill Self returned to a three-big lineup with Adams, Flory Bidunga and Dickinson. That group held the Wildcats scoreless until the very last moments of the half, when N’Guessan hit a deep stepback jumper over Bidunga to make it 44-36 at the break.
KU did not record a block or steal in the first half and allowed 19-for-35 (54.3%) shooting — actually lower than the Jayhawks’ own mark.
Rylan Griffen’s second-chance 3-pointer opened the second half for KU, but the Jayhawks promptly allowed a 3 in exchange to Brendan Hausen and then Griffen missed at the other end.
“I actually felt decent coming out of halftime and we got wide-open looks to start the second half (and) didn’t make them,” Self said.
KU trailed 52-43 before a straight-on 3-pointer by Hawkins, acrobatic floater by McDaniel and turnover by the Jayhawks got the Bramlage crowd as loud as it had been all day.
The Jayhawks’ brief attempt to go zone resulted in an immediate 3-pointer by Max Jones, which was K-State’s ninth of the day.
The Wildcats failed to score for a period of 3:53 down the stretch, and Dickinson made his first 3-pointer since Dec. 14. The Jayhawks got as close as 74-64 on another bucket by Dickinson, and within single digits for the first time since the opening stages of the second half on a tip-in by Bidunga, before sustaining the eight-point defeat.
The Jayhawks, who fell to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in Big 12 play, will host Colorado at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
