Spokane, Washington — Just one week after losing badly to rival Kansas State on the road after holding a two-minute lead, the Kansas men’s basketball team performed even worse on Saturday, failing to take the lead at any point.
Despite going scoreless for five minutes in the first half and seven and a half minutes in the second, the Jayhawks managed to tie the game multiple times but were unable to go ahead. They tied the game at 60, but they lost 74-67 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center because they let a 7-0 run.
The ability to experience extreme heat and cold simultaneously was something that center Hunter Dickinson mentioned. When they first emerged, they were extremely hot, but as they cooled down, we attempted to withstand the storm. We felt like that was our opportunity, but we couldn’t make the most of it.
The Utes’ lead was increased to seven points by Utah’s Gabe Madsen, who scored 24 points. With 1:54 remaining, Madsen made it to program history as the program’s all-time leader in three-point field goals.
Point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said that the player was highly regarded by scouts. He was known to have made 22 three-pointers in the previous game. It was all clear to us what was required of us. We must ensure that we are prepared to play.
Ezra Ausar threatened the Jayhawks in the post and scored 12, while Jake Wahlin had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.
“They got off to a hot start, but they settled down a bit,” KU coach Bill Self remarked. After that, we were unable to recover the rebound. I need to review the footage again so I can figure out why… Although we failed at a lot of other things as well, the most important factor in the outcome was their kicking of our butt on the glass and the points they scored off of our mistakes.
The KU team layup percentage was 7 for 19, and Dickinson had a particularly poor shooting night, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
“They really just stopped trying to keep up, and we weren’t able to be good drivers,” Dickinson explained. Driving was more of a challenge than we had hoped. On the other hand, I feel like we missed out on a lot of great looks—particularly mine. Today, I simply missed a lot of photographs.
The Jayhawks’ top scorers, Zeke Mayo and Harris, combined for 29 points; however, 22 of those points were scored in the first half.
Fourteen of the Utes’ crucial points came from sixteen offensive rebounds.
Long rebounds were common because “a lot of their shots were long shots,” Dickinson explained. “… I believe that our loss was likely caused solely by offensive rebounds and turnovers.
KU’s defense was shaky to begin with, allowing Utah to jump out to a 13-5 lead thanks to two turnovers by Rylan Griffen and two missed shots by Dickinson. In the first quarter, Madsen made two long-range attempts after trying eighteen in the second half of the Runnin’ Utes’ loss to Cincinnati.
“Obviously, he hurt us, but we also didn’t help ourselves by turning in too many missed assignments,” Self explained.
Despite the extra possessions the Jayhawks received from errors and fouls committed by Utah, the Jayhawks could only go as close as 16-12 before Wahlin hit Utah’s sixth 3-pointer of the game.
The Jayhawks’ defensive rebounding became a major issue during the first half, and the Utes dug the Jayhawks a deeper hole when Madsen converted a second-chance 3-pointer just after the half-court mark. Not long after that, he scored his fourth goal in the first half.
Harris, who had 12 points in the first half to help keep the Jayhawks going, scored the game-winning basket to finish off a 7-0 run that gave KU its first real chance to cut into the hole.
After a push shot by KJ Adams and an alley-oop by Flory Bidunga, the Utes went more than five minutes without scoring until Ausar ended their scoring drought with a putback layup.
In the final 28.8 seconds of the half, Utah brought Rakease Passmore in to guard Ausar. Adams and Bidunga each had two fouls, and Passmore retrieved a rebound and got fouled, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one. With that, Utah entered halftime leading 39-37.
At 8 for 14, the Utes went cold in the first half, missing all seven of their 3-point attempts.
Griffen, who rested for the majority of the first half, scored twice in the opening minutes of the second half and then put Utah ahead 52-45 after fouling Madsen on a three-point play.
With 11:37 remaining in the game, the Jayhawks’ bench was assessed a technical foul as they continued to battle for a comeback. After the game, Self expressed his frustration about what he saw as a missed call on a drive by Harris.
Self stated, “I didn’t actually really want it, though” in reference to the technical aspect. As Utah equaled its biggest lead at 11 points, Madsen converted both of its free throw attempts.
Once again, the Utes were hit with a lengthy drought, and the Jayhawks had trouble capitalizing until David Coit scored a stepback 3 to put the game away at 60-57. Unfortunately, Bidunga was unable to finish the three-point play after rattling in a layup through contact.
Mayo appeared to hurt his left leg as he hobbled off the court after being fouled on a drive, preventing him from making the go-ahead free throws. Bidunga tied the game after making one of two shots.
With 4 minutes and twenty seconds remaining, the Utes were able to regain the lead thanks to Ausar’s solution. It wasn’t long until Lawson Lovering missed the first half of a one-and-one, but the Jayhawks gave up the Utes’ fifteenth and sixteenth offensive rebounds of the game, Adams fouled out, and Wahlin converted two free throws.
As time ran out, the Utes converted their free throws thanks to Lovering’s (1-for-9) absence from the game, but Dickinson’s 3-pointer gave KU a chance with 28.9 seconds left to cut the lead to 70-65.
The Jayhawks will stay in Utah on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Central Time to face BYU. They dropped to 17-8 overall and 8-6 in league play.
