STILLWATER, Okla. — Kansas jumped out to a 23-point lead in the first half thanks to a red-hot shooting start for Darryn Peterson, then the Jayhawks held on as Peterson sat out most of the second half and they managed to secure an 81-69 victory over Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday night.
Peterson scored 23 points in 18 minutes before exiting for good with 17:22 to play due to cramps in a sight that evoked many of KU’s earlier games in conference play.
“I thought we were past it, but obviously we’re not,” head coach Bill Self said. “It’s certainly a concern.”
Tre White weathered an ugly midgame stretch to score 16 points, and Elmarko Jackson managed KU’s offense well in the late stages on his way to 14 of his own and four assists. Bryson Tiller quietly compiled a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double with a career-high seven assists.
“Offensively, we were great early,” Self said. “When we didn’t score, we got great looks, and of course Darryn was terrific early. But I thought everybody played well early, and then we didn’t finish the half great, and then the second half we just kind of pieced it together. I thought overall, we were good enough early to kind of keep them at arm’s length for the remainder of the game.”
The Jayhawks kept OSU’s high-scoring guards in check. The Cowboys’ biggest and most consistent threat on the night was Parsa Fallah, who outmuscled KU’s post players for 21 points. OSU’s usual top scorer Anthony Roy was still able to reach 16 points on 4-for-14 shooting.
KU set the tone early when Peterson scored 13 points, including three 3s, on 4-for-4 shooting prior to the first media timeout to give the Jayhawks a quick 17-6 lead.
“He does that with such ease, and we’ve been seeing it since summertime,” Jackson said. “As crazy as it is for you guys to see it, for us it’s kind of normal, but it’s really not normal.”
KU didn’t have a lot going otherwise after Peterson had a fourth 3-point attempt spin out, and Kanye Clary pulled-up for a 3 of his own to make it an eight-point game, but the Jayhawks responded with seven straight, even with both Peterson and Flory Bidunga on the bench, to reassert their advantage midway through the half.
OSU provided no shortage of open looks, but KU got stuck on 28 points for two minutes before Peterson knocked down another 3 and Melvin Council Jr. slithered in for his first bucket. That prompted a timeout from the Cowboys’ head coach Steve Lutz with KU up 33-14.
“We just wanted to kind of throw the first punch,” Tiller said.
With seven minutes to go in the half, OSU got its first layup of the night and first points in the paint on a drive by Christian Coleman.
KU led by as many as 23 points before a tough layup by Fallah, two free throws from Clary and a drive by Isaiah Coleman got the Cowboys some momentum. White’s attempt at a putback got stuck between the rim and the backboard to usher in the under-four timeout with the Jayhawks’ lead down to 39-22.
OSU added two more free throws and KU suffered from a couple of turnovers. A transition 3-pointer by Roy extended the run to 11-0 for the Cowboys and forced a timeout by Self.
Council ended the scoring drought of more than four minutes with a floater and Tiller added a putback dunk. OSU countered with a layup by Fallah as KU entered the break ahead 43-29.
Peterson scored 20 points in the first half, while no single Cowboy tallied more than six. The Jayhawks did leave some points on the floor in the first half, however, as they went 5-for-13 on layups.
OSU cut its deficit to 10 points in the opening minutes of the second half, but five straight points off the bench from Jackson countered Fallah’s three-point play.
“The biggest thing is he’s not putting himself in as many compromising positions offensively,” Self said of Jackson’s improved aggression.
Amid an uneasy stretch for the Jayhawks with Peterson on the bench — he went out for good after knocking down one final 3-pointer — White, who had missed six straight shots after starting 2-for-2, connected at last on a corner 3. He then added another from long range to make it 59-40 with 13 minutes remaining.
“Finally hit one,” he said. “I feel good, and my teammates, every day in practice they don’t do nothing but just encourage me, my preparation, staying ready daily. But it’s really kudos to my teammates for finding me open shots and keeping that confidence for me.”
“He’s had a great year, but he hadn’t been very good by his standards the last couple of weeks,” Self added. “And so it was important that he see a couple go down, and he did. Those were big shots, too.”
KU extended its lead to 21 before a 3-pointer by Fallah restored some intensity to OSU and the Cowboy fans in attendance.
Jackson took charge with a series of free throws to keep the Cowboys at bay, but a pair of mishandled lobs allowed Fallah to cut the margin to 13. Kohl Rosario’s first 3-pointer since Dec. 22, on his first offensive possession of the night, gave KU a much-needed boost.
“I’ve been saying it since forever: We know the work that he puts in,” Jackson said.
Roy made his third 3-pointer to reduce the Jayhawks’ lead to 76-62 with less than three minutes to go.
OSU had some success pressing, and Jackson got called for traveling in a 13-point game with 1:41 to go, but Roy missed a step-back 3.
“It’s a really tight league race, so we got to understand that we got to finish games out,” Jackson said. “We got to be better at that, finishing games out, and understanding time, momentum and score, being a smarter, more mature basketball team.”
Added White: “I’m glad we got the win. We can definitely learn from it. And where we’re trying to go later, we got to clean that up, so glad to kind of see that earlier instead of later in March.”
The Jayhawks, who improved to 20-6 and 10-3 in Big 12 play with the win, will return home to host Cincinnati (14-12, 6-7 Big 12) at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
“We need to practice, have two good practices even though tomorrow will be short,” Self said, “and we need to play tougher against a very physical Cincinnati team.”
AP Photo/Alonzo Adams
