KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas had just been battered by Oklahoma State for the second time this season, a humiliating loss in Stillwater that sent the Jayhawks into the Big 12 Tournament rubbing their bruised egos.

Then the Cowboys raced out to a 10-point lead in their quarterfinal matchup.

Rather than fold, though, the ninth-ranked Jayhawks showed the kind of toughness they’ve been missing much of this season. Malik Newman scored a career-high 30 points, their backup big men made up for the absence of injured center Udoka Azubuike, and coach Bill Self’s squad pulled away in the second half for an 82-68 victory over the Cowboys on Thursday.

“This team is easy to nitpick with because when we’re good, it’s magnified in ways because we can shoot and move the ball, and when we’re bad it’s magnified because we don’t do the things in grind-it-out games that a lot of teams do,” Self said. “Sometimes I think we get a little spoiled on what our expectations are, but I’m real proud of them. I think they competed hard for the most part.”

Svi Mykhailiuk added 13 points and Devonte Graham had 10 points, four rebounds and nine assists for the No. 1 seed Jayhawks (25-7), who were swept by the Cowboys (19-14) in the regular season. But they rose to the occasion when it mattered, setting up a date with Kansas State on Friday.

The Wildcats beat TCU in an overtime thriller earlier Thursday.

“We just wanted to come out, be aggressive and play tough,” Newman said, “because we haven’t played tough against those guys. We wanted to execute, have fun and be tough.”

Jeffrey Carroll scored 17 points and Kendall Smith had 14 for the No. 8 seed Cowboys, who can only hope their opening-round win over Oklahoma solidified their spot in the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re a tournament team. We’ve proven that all season long,” Smith said. “Especially to see the kind of basketball we’re playing right now, I definitely think we should get in.”

Azubuike sprained the MCL in his left knee in practice Tuesday, causing him to miss the entire weekend. The Jayhawks hope to have him back for the NCAA Tournament next week.

Mitch Lightfoot and Silvio De Sousa combined for 14 points and 14 rebounds in his place.

“We showed we can play without Doke,” Mykhailiuk said. “We can still win.”

Oklahoma State threatened to run the Jayhawks out of the building early on, just as it did in an 82-64 rout in Stillwater on Saturday. Yakuba Sima took advantage of the inside space where Azubuike usually roams, and Carroll’s 3-point barrage gave Oklahoma State an early 10-point lead.

That’s when the Jayhawks finally caught fire, going on an 18-4 charge to turn things around. It was Newman leading the way with a trio of 3-pointers, part of his 20 first-half points.

He kept the hot hand going early in the second half, scoring seven points during another big run — this one 14-0 — that made it 66-50 and forced Cowboys coach Mike Boynton to call timeout.

Boynton said after his team’s rough-and-tumble win over the Sooners that he didn’t buy into the notion that beating a team three times was any more difficult than beating it once. But Boynton didn’t address the challenge that comes with winning two games in fewer than 24 hours.

With 15 minutes left against Kansas, the Cowboys’ legs looked shot.

The Jayhawks’ game-breaking run coincided with a scoreless drought for Oklahoma State that went on for more than 7 1/2 minutes. At one point midway through the half, the Cowboys were 4 for 17 from the floor and had made more turnovers (five) than field goals.

Oklahoma State made a couple of late runs, but he Jayhawks were never in danger of letting their lead slip, locking up at least 25 wins for an NCAA-record 13th consecutive season.

“I won’t say fatigue wasn’t a factor,” Boynton said, “but we knew that coming in. We put ourselves in that scenario and Kansas earned the right to have the extra day of rest.”

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma State had a 53-27 rebounding advantage against Oklahoma. But the Cowboys only had a 36-33 edge against Kansas, even with Azubuike out with the knee injury.

Kansas set a school record for 3-pointers in a season (319) when Lagerald Vick knocked one down with 3:49 to go. The Jayhawks have relied on the outside shot all year, but it came in handy with their biggest post presence sitting on the bench.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State waits anxiously to hear its name called on Selection Sunday.

Kansas tries to beat the Wildcats for the third time this season.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas forward Udoka Azubuike sprained his left knee during a scrimmage this week, ruling him out of the Big 12 Tournament and putting his availability for the NCAA Tournament in question.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self said after a scrimmage at the Sprint Center that Azubuike sprained his medial collateral ligament near the end of Tuesday’s practice. Azubuike was going for a rebound and a collision occurred under the basket, leaving the 7-footer with a “Grade 1” sprain.

“We did an MRI as soon as practice was over,” Self said Wednesday. “It’s similar to an ankle or whatnot, there’s obviously a ligament that’s sprained or stretched and right now it’s too loose to put him out there, but these are injuries, I’ve been told, the healing process begins quickly.”

The ninth-ranked Jayhawks (24-7) open the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday against the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State winner, and Self said his sophomore big man won’t be examined by doctors until Sunday.

That means backup forward Mitch Lightfoot will start in the post, and freshman Silvio De Sousa — who became eligible a couple months ago — will be forced to play more meaningful minutes.

“Silvio is going to have to play at least Mitch’s minutes, and Mitch is going to have to play Doke’s minutes,” Self said. “I wish it had happened two days ago, we could have practiced playing five guards, but we’ll have to deal with what we have.”

Azubuike, who is averaging 13.7 points and 7.1 rebounds, missed most of last season with a wrist injury. And his latest injury, which Self called a “freak accident,” merely continues a rough streak of absences for crucial players by the time the Big 12 and NCAA tournament rolls around.

Last season, star freshman Josh Jackson was suspended for the Big 12 tourney opener for a series of off-the-court incidents, and the Jayhawks promptly lost to TCU in their quarterfinal matchup.

Big man Joel Embiid missed the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments three years ago because of a back injury. Fellow big man Cliff Alexander missed all of March the following season due to an investigation into impermissible benefits. And another big man, Cheick Diallo, needed stitches after taking an elbow to his mouth and wound up sitting out a game in the Big 12 Tournament in 2016.

Azubuike’s injury is nearly identical to a sprained MCL that Perry Ellis sustained a few years ago, causing the Jayhawks’ forward to miss just over a week prior to the Big 12 Tournament.

The Jayhawks are the No. 1 seed for the league tournament after winning the regular-season crown for a record 14th consecutive year. But they are hardly the clear-cut favorite in Kansas City, and the injury to Azubuike may not even make them the favorite in their opener.

They’ll either face national player-of-the-year candidate Trae Young and Oklahoma, which split with the Jayhawks in the regular season, or Oklahoma State, which swept them quite easily.

Asked whether the Jayhawks will be able to cope without their big man, Big 12 player of the year Devonte Graham replied: “We’re going to have to be. We don’t have a choice.”

“I just feel bad for him, last year having the injury,” Graham said. “Just terrible timing.”

— Associated Press —