Just a couple of days after Kansas played one of its worst games of the season, the Jayhawks were back at their best on Monday night, out-doing No. 5 Houston in a fight that decidedly went to the home team, 69-56.
The loss to Cincinnati over the weekend was bad and Kansas lacked fire and grit. Not so in this one. And didn't we all know that was coming?
While that Cincy loss might've hurt the Jayhawks in terms of seeding or in the Big 12 race — and it also might not have — the fact of the matter remains that this team knows it can play with, and beat, anybody, as home wins over No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Iowa State and now No. 5 Houston certainly show.
A pair of 11-0 runs in the first half helped shape this one, with Houston hitting Kansas with one in the opening minutes to take control of the game and KU closing the first half on one over the final 3:08 of the half to take a 31-27 lead into halftime.
That set the stage for a 2nd half that Kansas absolutely dominated. Less than 8 minutes into the second half, KU's lead had grown to 13 points, leaving the Cougars reeling and without answers.
Four Jayhawks scored in double figures, with Tre White leading the way with 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting overall and 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
Darryn Peterson, who played 30 minutes and then spoke with reporters afterwards, added 14 on more-or-less a ho-hum kind of night, with Bryson Tiller and Melvin Council Jr. adding 11 apiece.
The win moved KU to 41-0 in Big Monday games at Allen Fieldhouse under Bill Self and also represented the Cougars' third consecutive loss to a murder's row of Big 12 foes — at Iowa State, vs. Arizona and at Kansas.
KU, for now, is in sole possession of second place in the Big 12 race, taking the tiebreaker over Houston and trailing Arizona by two games in the loss column.
Next up, KU (21-7 overall, 11-4 Big 12) will head Arizona later this week for back to back games in the state, first at 3 p.m. Saturday against the 2nd-ranked Wildcats on ESPN followed by a battle with Arizona State next Tuesday (March 3) at 8 p.m. on FS1.
Here's a look back at some Monday's action from a grinder at Allen Fieldhouse.
LIKES
• Flory Appreciation Post - I know you love him. I know he's fun to watch. But, I'm not sure whether any of us have truly appreciated Flory Bidunga the way we should. He's having a sensational season — especially in Big 12 play — and he turned in as good of an individual sequence as I've ever seen during the 2nd half of this one. It started on the defensive end. After switching onto Houston guard Milos Uzan, Bidunga stayed down, kept his body in front of him and contested Uzan's deep 3-point jumper. The shot missed. And who was there to get the rebound, planted in the paint and ready to explode to the ball? None other than Bidunga. On the Jayhawks' next trip down the floor, the ball went into Bidunga, who muscled his way to a bucket at the rim to put the Jayhawks up by 15 with 9:36 to play. Bidunga finished the night with just 4 points and 7 rebounds in 36 minutes.
• Attack, attack, attack - It wasn't just that the Jayhawks held serve and actually added a point to their halftime lead in the first 3 minutes of the second half. It was the way they did it — in ultra-aggressive attack mode for the entirety of that stretch. Tre White scored on a run-out and assisted on a touchdown-type pass to Melvin Council Jr. for another bucket. The opening 4 or 5 minutes of the second half is always crucial, especially in big games that are close. And that early KU surge forced the Cougars to call timeout to regroup, down by 5 just 3 minutes into the 2nd half. Even after Houston followed the timeout with a 3-point make, KU stayed in attack mode, with Council immediately pushing the KU lead back to five with a hard-charging, old-fashioned three-point play. The Jayhawks attacked on misses, makes and after turnovers.
• Shot clock violations - There aren't many better signs of a defense that's locked in and ready to grind quite like a shot-clock violation by that team's opponent. KU forced two of those in the first half alone on Monday night, one of the many ways the Jayhawks out-dueled Houston on the defensive end.
• Free throw shooting - KU not only doubled up Houston in trips to the free throw line on the night, but they also made them count, knocking in 18 of 20 compared to a 9-for-9 clip by Houston. For the most part, the Jayhawks have been a good free throw shooting team this season, but that kind of showing, in a game of this magnitude, was wildly impressive. It showed KU's focus on attacking all night — as we covered above — and the fact that they matched up with a physical foe and didn't over-foul
DISLIKES
• Sloppy start - If you just watched the first 8 or so minutes of the game, you might not have given Kansas a chance. After a good start by Bryson Tiller on the offensive glass for the and-1 and a 3-0 KU lead, the Jayhawks went cold and struggled for the next several minutes. At one point, they were 1-for-7 from the floor with 4 turnovers, allowing an 11-0 Houston run to give the visitors control of most of the first half. But, as we've seen all season — or at least for most of it — this team does not lay down when things are tough. They kept battling, scrapped for what they could get and had the lead by halftime and rolled in the 2nd half. Maybe the game had to go like that for KU to find its groove. If so, good for them. Still, that kind of start might not do Kansas any favors away from home.
WHAT THE?
• Bad whistle? - It's been this way at times in a handful of games this season, but it really stood out in this one. Especially on one sequence midway through the first half. After Darryn Peterson drove hard to the rim with a little hesi move, he clearly got hit in the paint on his way up for the shot. No call. The basket fell anyway and KU got the points, but DP, who has become more demonstrative in asking the refs for calls in recent games, was left perplexed. On the very next Houston possession, DP appeared to get a clean block from behind of an open dunk by a Houston player, only to hear the whistle get blown on him for his second foul. It's weird to see a star player in his home building get so few whistles. But Peterson has not gotten many this season, home or away. Suppose there might be a rhythm to the way officials call these things, too, and him not being out there consistently may be hurting him in this area, as well. Wild.
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