Lawrence, KS — Lawrence’s Allen Field House was electric with fans as the Kansas Jayhawks recognized their seniors, along with the second matchup of the Sunflower Showdown. In the sea of red and blue, some purple patches attended the rivalry as well.
Kansas State would have a difficult time containing the Jayhawks’ offensive flow and dynamic atmosphere as Kansas took the win 104-85 ahead of the Big 12 Tournament next week.
Early in the first half, David Castillo hit a deep three for the Wildcats on a fast break, taking the lead 7-5, but only for one possession as the Jayhawks’ Tre White would come back down the court, hitting two consecutive three-pointers.
As the ball rolled around the rim from a shot coming from the hands of P.J. Haggerty, Taj Manning was down low, reading the ball and tipping it back in to trail by one, 16-15 with 11:13 remaining in the first half.
In the midst of a ticking clock with 7:19 remaining in the first half, Andrej Kostic hit a three-pointer to pull K-State out of a scoring drought that lasted 3:52.
A throw-down dunk by Nate Johnson at the 2:42 mark closed the deficit to nine points, 37-28, before Kansas pushed its lead to double digits and kept it that way the remainder of the game.
Before a media timeout with three minutes remaining before the break, K-State went into another dry spell of 2:25. The Wildcats shot a low 35.1% from field goals during the first 20 minutes of play.
With 3:03 remaining in the half, the Kansas crowd erupted as Melvin Council Jr. set up an alley-oop for Jlory Bidunga, who threw it down at the rim, showing the Jayhawks dominance when playing in their own house.
A pair of free throws by Darry Peterson would round out the first 20 minutes of play. Haggerty led K-State with 10 points and four rebounds, along with Johnson adding eight points and three rebounds. These two Wildcats would have a combined 42 points for the night, with Khamari McGriff adding 17 points and seven rebounds.
The ‘Cats came back from the break rejuvenated as Taj Manning took away a Jayhawk alley-oop attempt, coming back on offense, where Johnson converted a three-point play, to bring the scoring gap to 10 points, 46-36.
“They’re always that team that always wants to play above the rim and play that way off the ball screen,” K-State interim head coach Matthew Driscoll said.
Kansas would find its groove again, making an 8-0 run across 1:48. The Wildcats would also make a run over 1:36 and score 6-0, but would still trail the Jayhawks by 12 points, 54-42.
With 13:41 remaining, C.J. Jones would make a splash from the left corner in a fight to stay in the game.
Kansas would continue burying K-State, going on many runs, including two started by Peterson and the other two started by Council Jr.
With 7:08 left in the game, the Jayhawks extended their lead to 25 after Jayden Dawson knocked down a three from beyond the arc.
K-State’s points were few and far between during the second half, as Kansas shot 76.7% from field goal range. While the biggest scoring gap between the two in-state rivals was 30 points, the Wildcats were able to work their way back to a 19-point deficit.
“I love the fact that the guys continued to fight,” Driscoll said. “But then they got it up 30, and at that point, it becomes a little bit different.”
As the buzzer sounded and the crowd erupted with a 104-85 victory, Kansas took the title of both Sunflower Showdowns this season, leaving the Wildcats a sour taste in their mouth.
The Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament is set for March 10-14 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. K-State will be the 15 seed for the tournament, matching up against 10 seed BYU, which will be played on March 10 at 6 p.m.
“I want to make sure that everyone knows that our staff deserve a lot of credit for what’s transpired these last two, three weeks, and I’m grateful to be beside them,” Driscoll said.
