No. 8 Kansas easily defeats Oklahoma State 83-54 with balanced offense

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K.J. Adams Jr. catches half-court lob for a Kansas dunk

Kansas' Dajuan Harris Jr. throws it from from beyond half court to K.J. Adams Jr. for a big dunk.

Jan 31, 2024, 05:13 am

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- — Hunter Dickinson and K.J. Adams Jr. each scored 16 points to lead a balanced scoring attack and No. 8 Kansas defeated Oklahoma State 83-54 on Tuesday night.

All five Kansas starters scored in double figures.

“It was good not to have to stress as much,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We played well. Offensively, we were able to move the ball. We got the shots we wanted and we shared it. Our shot distribution was good. Marko (Elmarko Jackson) saw a couple go down, so there were a lot of good things offensively.”

The Jayhawks, who played without all-America candidate Kevin McCullar Jr., cruised throughout the second half. Their lead never dipped below the halftime margin of 18 points.

“Obviously it was a tough night for us, but Kansas had a lot to do with it,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. “We obviously didn’t play well enough to give ourselves much of a chance.

"They can hurt you a lot of ways. Today, we tried to make them beat us from 3-point range, but they showed us they were capable of beating us from 3 early. That makes it harder to put more attention on Hunter.”

Kansas (17-4, 5-3 Big 12) got 12 points from Dajuan Harris Jr., 11 from Johnny Furphy and 10 from Jackson. Dickinson had a double-double with 11 rebounds, and Harris had seven assists. Dickinson went over 2,000 points in his career, counting his first three years at Michigan.

Self was pleased with the aggressiveness of Harris, who had his second-most points of the season.

“We wanted Juan to shoot the ball,” he said. “I think he was more aggressive. I told Juan he needs to quit listening to me and he needs to quit listening to everybody else what they think he should be doing to play well. It’s ridiculous, including me.

"All he’s done is won a state high school championship, won a national championship. He wins every pickup game. I tell him, ‘Just play and trust your instincts. Quit trying to do what other people say you need to do.’ He needs to make sure his team wins. And that’s what he does.”

Oklahoma State (9-12, 1-7) was led by John-Michael Wright with 16 points. Brandon Garrison added 11 points after scoring the first seven points of the game for the Cowboys.

Kansas gradually pulled away in the first half, grabbing its first double-digit lead with 11:12 left in the first half on a jumper by Jackson. When Dickinson hit a foul-line jumper to cap a 12-0 run, the Jayhawks led 33-15. They led by as many as 21 points in the first half before taking a 44-26 lead into the locker room.

“I looked at it as an opportunity,” Jackson said of playing without McCullar. “We've got a motto here of ‘Next man up.’ You just have to be ready for your opportunity.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys, the youngest team in the Big 12 Conference, don't have the depth to compete in the upper tier of the conference at this point.

Kansas: The Jayhawks didn't miss leading scorer McCullar, who was out with an undisclosed injury.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State: Hosts Kansas State on Saturday.

Kansas: Hosts No. 4 Houston on Saturday.

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