Harris, McCullar, Dick shine as Kansas holds off Texas 88-80

The Jayhawks overcame a rare off night from Wilson to win in a game they lead wire-to-wire.

Bill Self called out nearly every member of Kansas Jayhawks after a dominant loss to Iowa State on Saturday, saying "that we only had one guy" in Jalen Wilson. The team took that message to heart on Monday night against the Texas Longhorns. On a night when Wilson struggled, every other player that entered the game stepped up to hold off multiple Texas runs en route to an 88-80 win.

The Jayhawks built a big lead in the first half thanks to a well-rounded effort. Dajuan Harris, Gradey Dick and KJ Adams all scored as part of an initial 6-0 run. Kevin McCullar joined in shortly after, but Kansas found themselves tied at 12.

But from there the Jayhawks took over. McCullar broke the tie, which immediately started an 18-4 run for the largest lead of the night. Wilson scored his only two points of the game during this run, and a total of six players scored, including Joseph Yesufu and Ernest Udeh. 

It looked like the Jayhawks were going to have all the momentum going into the half, but Texas scored the final 5 points to get back within 7. And they carried that over after the break, tying the game on an 8-0 run immediately after Harris started the half out by making 1-2 free throws. 

But even though the Longhorns had three previous comeback wins of 12 or more points, KJ Adams kept the Jayhawks afloat, scoring just enough to ensure that the Jayhawks never trailed in the game. And with Kansas up just one, the rest of the starters (minus Wilson) joined in for a 9-2 run to expand the lead. While Texas made another push to get as close as 4, another 7-0 run put the game out of reach.

Dick led the Jayhawks with 21 points, but four other Jayhawks also scored in double figures: Harris (17), McCullar (16), Yesufu (14) and Adams (10). Harris had a complete game, with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals to go with his scoring.

The win moves the Jayhawks to 19-5 overall and 7-4 in the Big 12, just a game behind the Longhorns in the conference standings. They are next in action on Saturday, as they travel to Norman to take on the Oklahoma Sooners. The game is scheduled for a noon tipoff and will be broadcast on CBS.

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