Dick, Kansas Steal Oklahoma State's Heart With 87-76 Road Win

The Jayhawks won their third straight to tie for first in the Big 12.

It wasn’t easy, but Kansas had to love the outcome of an 87-76 Valentine’s Day road victory over Oklahoma State to tie the Jayhawks atop the Big 12 standings with Texas and Baylor.

Oklahoma State has the leading defense in the Big 12, but it was an offensive slugfest to begin the game. KU got off to a quick 5-0 start on a KJ Adams finish inside and a Jalen Wilson three. Oklahoma State then answered with seven straight of its own before the two sides traded baskets: a Wilson jumper tied it a seven, followed by a Bryce Thompson jumper, followed by a Gradey Dick basket, and so on.

Kansas led 11-9 at the under-16 timeout as it shot 5-7 from the floor and the Cowboys hit four of their first seven. For OSU, it was all Thompson and Kalib Boone. Thompson and Boone scored all of the Cowboys first 16 points and 28 of OSU’s 32. Meanwhile, Wilson scored seven early but picked up his second foul with 10:16 left in the half and had to sit for an extended stretch.

Still, Kansas kept Oklahoma State from pulling away. And it was largely with defense. The Jayhawks had six first-half steals and forced nine OSU turnovers, including four straight late in the half. A 6-0 Kansas run gave the Jayhawks a 31-30 lead with five minutes left in the half but KU struggled from deep, hitting only one of its first nine threes.

OSU pulled out to a 37-33 lead after a John-Michael Wright three, but Joseph Yesufu answered with a three and then after the Cowboys botched the last shot of the half, KU went down the court in four seconds with Kevin McCullar finding Dick in the corner for a three as the half ended to give Kansas a 39-37 lead. Boone and Thompson combined for 30 of OSU’s 37 points, while KU opted for a more balanced approach. Dick and McCullar each had nine at the half while Adams and Wilson added seven. Kansas had 13 assists on 16 made field goals.

Dick opened the second half with another basket for 11 and then after OSU answered, Adams took it strong to the rim to extend the lead to four. A Boone and-one cut the lead to one but who else but Dick to hit another three.

Wilson picked up his third foul with 18:33 left in the game and again he had to sit. Yesufu came in and immediately hit his second three of the game. Another OSU turnover led to a Yesufu fast break and he found Dick for another three to give KU a 52-44 lead. It was the Jayhawks’ fifth straight three.

The Kansas defense continued to swarm OSU, forcing 11 turnovers and creating eight steals in the first 24 minutes of the game. Meanwhile, Dick continued to pester the Cowboys’ defense, and the threat of shooting allowed him to draw a foul on a three and hit two free throws to go up 56-47. Harris came down on Thompson’s foot and rolled his ankle but didn’t come out before finding Dick on a back-door cut to get the lead up to double digits.

Wright hit two straight threes to cut the lead to 58-53 with 13:30 minutes left before McCullar’s hard drive answered the crowd. Then Udeh picked up his fourth foul and Zuby Ejiorfor came in to replace him. McCullar hit a huge humper and then stole the ball and found Ejiofor in transition to get the lead back up to 64-53.

Harris came back into the game with just under 10 minutes left and KU leading 66-56. After a Boone free throw, Harrais finds McCullar for a nice hook shot. A Thompson turnover went right into Harris’ hands and he found Dick for an easy layup.

Udeh fouled out of the game with 6:38 left and Kansas leading 70-61. Boone missed both free throws but Kansas can’t secure the rebound and Boone finishes the layup to make it 70-63. Kansas needed a basket and who else but Dick to hit another three for his 26th point of the night. Harris picked up a foul but OSU missed another free throw and was just 6-12 in the second half from the line at this point.

Wilson drove to the basket after an OSU offensive foul and found Harris in the corner for his first three of the game and all of a sudden it’s 76-64 Kansas. Boone was single-handedly keeping OSU in the game with two baskets to cut it to eight but then Adams hit another 13-foot jumper. Wright knocked down another three – his fifth in eight tries – and a major play on the other end as Dick has to heave up a a deep three as the shot clock expired that hit off the rim and then off an OSU player to give KU the ball back with 2:27 left. But Wilson gets called for a five-second call, giving the ball back to the Cowboys as Bill Self argued he called timeout.

McCullar stopped Boone on the other end but then went down holding his right ankle. Yesufu missed a three on the next play but Wilson grabbed a huge rebound and finished off an and-one to give KU a 10-point lead. OSU gave it away again on the next possession, KU’s 11th steal of the game. Wilson then hit a step-back shot, keeping the lead out of reach.

Boone led all scorers with 27 but Dick had 26 to lead Kansas to go along with three boards and three assists. McCullar had one of his best all-around games as as Jayhawk with 15 points, three rebounds, and eight assists. Adams also had 15 points, despite picking up four fouls, and Wilson added 14 points and four rebounds. Harris was the lone starter not to score in double figures, he had five, but he did have nine assists and two steals. Yesufu was the main contributor off the bench with eight points and three steals.

Kansas hosts College Gameday and Baylor on Saturday to see who can remain in first in the Big 12.