KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Devonte Graham ripped off the shooting sleeve he was wearing and tossed it into the crowd, then took the two-time Big 12 defensive player of the year baseline for a pullup jumper.

Talk about unflappable.

Unstoppable, too.

The league’s player of the year finished with 18 points and 13 assists, most of them during the decisive second half, and Graham led ninth-ranked Kansas to an 81-70 victory over Jevon Carter and No. 18 West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament championship game Saturday night.

Malik Newman added 20 points on his way to tournament MVP, and freshman Silvio De Sousa had 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting in place of injured big man Udoka Azubuike, lifting the Jayhawks (27-7) to their 11th tournament title and a likely No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

It was the second time in three years they’ve beaten West Virginia (24-10) for the championship.

“We just locked on and starting plays and kept competing, and it was just fun. It was fun to be out there,” Graham said with a smile. “It helped that we were able to make shots.”

Modest understatement there. The Jayhawks shot 72 percent from the field in the second half, and 56 percent for the game, while going 15 of 27 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“They have a lot of guys who can make shots,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “Let’s be honest, all of those guys out there, if they’re not McDonald’s All-Americans it’s because they’re from another country. They have good players and their guy can coach, you know?”

Daxter Miles Jr. hit five 3s and had 25 points to lead West Virginia, which has lost the last three Big 12 title games. Sagaba Konate added 18 points while Carter, the best defender in the league, finished with 17 points and nine assists.

West Virginia still has not won a postseason league tournament since the Big East in 2010.

“They just did a real good job of knocking down shots,” Carter said. “Seemed like every shot they put up, it went in. When we went cold, they kept hitting.”

The Mountaineers controlled most of the first half, picking and choosing when to employ their full-court press. And they caught a break when Mykhailiuk and Mitch Lightfoot picked up two fouls apiece, allowing Konate to score nearly at will in the paint.

Then the Mountaineers’ big fella picked up his second foul and took a seat on the bench.

The Jayhawks roared back to briefly tie the game, and trailed 34-33 at the break after De Sousa threw down an alley-oop dunk in transition in the closing seconds of the first half.

One of the hallmarks of Kansas over the years, especially under Bill Self, has been tenacious half-court defense — and the Mountaineers shredded it early in the second half. They scored their first eight possessions, and Miles’ layup gave them their biggest lead at 51-43 with 15:08 left.

From there, the game turned into a back-and-forth prizefight: Kansas scored 10 straight, West Virginia answered with eight in a row and the Jayhawks responded with 10 more.

“They got control of the game. We made a run. They got control in the second half, we made a run,” Self said, “and that was the difference. When they had a chance to distance themselves we got back in it, and we played almost flawless down the stretch.”

The Jayhawks’ last run was part of a larger 17-3 charge to finally take control.

Graham capped it with his fadeaway baseline jumper over Carter — after shedding a bit of clothes — and a 3-pointer from the wing that made it 73-66 with 3:49 to go.

West Virginia got it to 76-70 on Carter’s two free throws moments later, but Miles missed a 3-pointer and Carter missed a circus-style layup, then turned the ball over with a minute left.

That allowed the Jayhawks to seal their latest Big 12 championship from the foul line.

“We had open shots, didn’t make them. They had contested shots, made them,” Huggins said. “If they can do that for three weeks, they could win a national championship.”

MORE ON DOKE

Azubuike will be evaluated again Sunday, and Self expressed hope that he would be ready for the Jayhawks’ NCAA Tournament opener. The 7-foot sophomore hurt a ligament in his left knee during practice Tuesday, but he appeared to be moving well with a brace on before the game.

BIG PICTURE

West Virginia will be happy to play someone other than Kansas in the NCAA Tournament. Not only have the Mountaineers struggled against the Jayhawks in Kansas City, they were swept in the regular season — blowing a big second-half lead during the game in Lawrence.

Kansas got a big lift from De Sousa, who joined the team after graduating from high school in December. The 6-foot-9 forward grew by leaps and bounds during his time at Sprint Center, making the Jayhawks an even scarier proposition in next week’s NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT

West Virginia and Kansas head home to rest before Selection Sunday. The Big 12 could get anywhere from five to nine teams into the dance, with the Jayhawks a likely No. 1 seed.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas absorbed the biggest blows that short-handed Kansas State could land, played without its star big man for the second straight game and won its Big 12 Tournament semifinal comfortably.

You’d think that would be enough to make coach Bill Self happy.

“I thought they played better than us,” he insisted after an 83-67 victory Friday night, “but I thought a lot of it was self-inflected. We couldn’t guard them and offensively we weren’t very smart.

“If I sleep two hours tonight,” Self added, “it’ll be more than I probably think I should.”

So much for feel-good feelings.

Malik Newman poured in 22 points, Devonte Graham added 15 points and Svi Mykhailiuk had 12 for the top-seeded Jayhawks (26-7), who nevertheless cruised into a title matchup with No. 14 Texas Tech or No. 18 West Virginia on Saturday night at the Sprint Center.

It was the Jayhawks’ eighth straight win over Kansas State (23-10), and they remained perfect in 10 games against their cross-state rival in the Big 12 Tournament.

The fourth-seeded Wildcats learned Friday morning they’d be without All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade, who hurt his foot in their quarterfinal win over TCU. Then they lost starting guard Barry Brown early against the Jayhawks when he was accidentally poked in the eye.

“You can’t prepare for Barry going down the first play,” Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said. “He had very little vision. He wanted to play. He kept saying, `Put me in.’ But I held up fingers and asked him how many and he couldn’t say.”

Unheralded forward Mawien stepped up with a career-high 29 points, and Xavier Sneed scored 12 despite another poor shooting night, but the duo couldn’t make up for two major absences.

Brown’s injury came 90 seconds into the game, when he drove the lane and Graham accidentally got him in the left eye. He flopped to the floor in pain — “It was a little gross when I looked at it,” Weber said — and was checked for several minutes before going to the locker room.

Even when he returned to the bench, Brown was never looked like he was going to play. There was some bleeding in his eye and he spent the rest of the game holding an ice pack on it.

“It’s very tough when one of your main contributors goes down with an injury,” Mawien said. “We just had to step up and play hard.”

Kansas took advantage of the absences by ripping off a 19-4 run midway through the first half that gave the Jayhawks control. They eventually pushed the advantage to 43-30 by the break.

Mawien and the Wildcats made the Jayhawks work for it in the second half, though. The junior college transfer dominated in the paint, especially when Kansas big man Mitch Lightfoot picked up his fourth foul with 11:38 to go, and Kansas State clawed to within 53-51 with 10 minutes left.

“There was absolutely no resistant guarding Mawien,” Self said, “and I hope I’m pronouncing it correctly, because he was by far the best player in the game. He whipped us.”

It was Newman that restored order. The transfer from Mississippi State followed his career-best 30-point effort in a quarterfinal win over Oklahoma State with another virtuoso performance.

He drained a 3-pointer to make it 60-53 with 8 1/2 minutes left, then hit his fifth of the game a few minutes later. And by the time Lagerald Vick curled in back-to-back baskets, the lead had swelled to 71-59 and the Jayhawks were on their way toward the title game.

“I mean, we know that basketball is a game of runs. Those guys did a good job of going on their run,” Newman said, “but we were able to withstand the storm. We had confidence in one another that we were going to make stops and make plays.”

WADE WATCH

Weber held out hope Wade could return for the title game if Kansas State won, and he is optimistic about his availability for next week’s NCAA Tournament. “Going forward into next week,” Weber said, “we have every indication he will be able to play.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State almost certainly locked up its NCAA Tournament bid with its win over TCU, but the fight the Wildcats showed against Kansas — down their two best players — may have helped their cause.

Kansas has played well using a four-guard lineup while Azubuike deals with a sprained ligament in his left knee. That should give the Jayhawks confidence if he misses any NCAA Tournament games.

UP NEXT

Kansas State returns to Manhattan to await its NCAA Tournament fate.

Kansas turns its attention toward winning its 15th conference tournament title.

— Associated Press —

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 —

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Kansas senior Devonte’ Graham has been named one of five finalists for the 2018 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Monday. Graham is vying to become the second Jayhawk to win the honor as Frank Mason III was the 2017 recipient.

A national committee of top college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers narrowed the original watch list of 20 players down to 10 candidates and now to just five finalists. This month, the five finalists will be presented to Mr. Cousy and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee.

The five finalists for the 2018 Bob Cousy Award are Graham, Joel Barry II (North Carolina), Trae Young (Oklahoma), Jalen Brunson (Villanova), and Jevon Carter (West Virginia).

On every national player of year watch list, Graham is the only player in NCAA Division I this season averaging 17.0-plus pts, 7.0-plus assists, 1.6-plus steals and fewer than 3.0 turnovers per game. Graham is sixth nationally, second in the Big 12, in assists per game at 7.2. The Raleigh, North Carolina, guard is scoring 17.6 points per game, which is second in the conference. Graham is third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7), sixth in free throw percentage (82.6), fourth in 3-point field goals made (3.0), sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (42.3) and fifth in steals (1.6).

Graham was the unanimous selection for Big 12 Player of the Year and an All-Big 12 First Team selection after guiding Kansas (24-7, 13-5) to its NCAA-record 14th consecutive, 18th Big 12 and NCAA-leading 61st regular-season conference title.

This season, Graham is logging 37.4 minutes per game this year, which ranks as the fifth highest average in a single season at KU. His 93 3-pointers made are sixth on the KU season list and his 224 assists are eighth.

Historically, in Kansas’ last game Graham became the 15th player in KU history to score 1,600 points. He currently sits 15th with 1,620 points. Graham is the third player in school history to tally 1,600 points, 550 assists and 180 steals in a career. KU All-Americans Darnell Valentine and Kirk Hinrich are the only other Jayhawks to hit those numbers. Graham is second on the KU career 3-point field goals made list, currently at 279, ninth in assists at 574 and ninth in steals at 186.

The winner of the 2018 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans are encouraged to visit www.HoophallAwards.com to cast their votes March 2-23.

The winner of the 2018 Bob Cousy Award will be honored at ESPN’s College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, April 6, 2018. Additional awards being presented include the Jerry West Shooting Guard Award, the Julius Erving Small Forward Award, the Karl Malone Power Forward Award and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award.

Previous winners of the Bob Cousy Award include Mason (2018), Tyler Ulis, Kentucky (2016), Delon Wright, Utah (2015), Shabazz Napier, Connecticut (2014), Trey Burke, Michigan (2013), Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (2012), Kemba Walker, Connecticut (2011), Greivis Vasquez, Maryland (2010), Ty Lawson, North Carolina (2009), DJ Augustin, Texas (2008), Acie Law, Texas A & M (2007), Dee Brown, Illinois (2006), Raymond Felton, North Carolina (2005) and Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph’s (2004).

2018 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award Finalists
Joel Berry II, North Carolina
Jalen Brunson, Villanova
Jevon Carter, West Virginia
DEVONTE’ GRAHAM, KANSAS
Trae Young, Oklahoma

— KU Athletics —

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — They’re barely considered a bubble team for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but Oklahoma State just bolstered its resume with another big win.

Kendall Smith scored a career-high 25 points and Mitchell Solomon had 16 points and seven rebounds to help lead Oklahoma State to an 82-64 victory over No. 6 Kansas in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday.

The Cowboys’ home fans rushed the court at the final buzzer as Oklahoma State finished the season with three wins in their final four games. The win puts them eighth in the Big 12 and sets up a rivalry battle in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament against Oklahoma.

Smith, who had scored just nine points in each of his two previous outings, hit 20 for the seventh time this season and for the fifth time in the last nine contests. He also added a career-high four steals.

Oklahoma State (18-13, 8-10) swept the season series from Kansas, marking the first time that the Jayhawks have been swept in a home-and-home since 2001, a span of 103 series.

“It hasn’t been a smooth ride, there’s been a lot of ups and downs, but these kids have been really resilient and I couldn’t be more proud,” Cowboys coach Mike Boynton said. “We were locked in. Our guys played with a determination today that we haven’t had consistently throughout the year.”

Boynton believes his team, which also defeated then-No. 6 Texas Tech 79-71 on Feb. 21 and then-No. 19 West Virginia 88-85 on Feb. 10, deserves to be in the tournament.

“I think we can beat anybody,” Boynton said. “I feel like, if we’re in the right frame of mind, and if we play with the type of focus that we’re capable of, I don’t care where it is, who the other coach is, who the other team has on its roster. I believe in these guys that much.”

Devonte’ Graham, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, scored 15 points and had eight assists to lead the Jayhawks (24-7, 13-5), who had a five-game winning streak snapped. The Jayhawks had already secured the top seed in next week’s Big 12 Conference Tournament.

“It does surprise me, I thought we’d compete harder,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of his team’s performance, “considering they had kicked us pretty good at our place (in a 84-79 OSU win on Feb. 3), but that was not the case. Our game plan, that’s on me, on how to combat their pressure and everything, obviously didn’t work, so once it went bad, it started going worse.”

And if Oklahoma State can beat Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday, it will set up another matchup with Kansas in the quarterfinals Thursday.

“They would be the favorite in that game,” Self said. “We’re either going to play Oklahoma or Oklahoma State and they’re both capable of beating us. Certainly, it’ll be a coin-flip game either way, and we’re going to have to be a heck of a lot better than the two times we played OSU.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: Having already clinched the Big 12 regular-season championship, their NCAA-record 14th in a row and their 61st overall conference title, also a record, the Jayhawks perhaps didn’t start the contest with the required intensity to defeat a determined opponent, falling behind early and never having the lead all game, despite several nice runs and a comeback attempt that saw them pull to within 56-47 with 11:59 remaining. KU still has 13 conference victories for the 13th straight season and is one away for 25 overall wins for the 13th year in a row.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys continued their pattern of playing their best against elite competition. The win leaves the Cowboys with a 5-1 record in their last six games against ranked opponents, with four of them against top 10 teams, both tied for the most in the NCAA this season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The loss may cost Kansas a couple of spots in the next poll, depending on how the teams directly behind them fared this week, but they should remain in the top 10.

TURNING POINT

After Graham sank a 3-pointer from the right corner with 11:56 left in the opening half, the Jayhawks trailed just 17-14, but Oklahoma State went on a game-defining 13-0 run over the next three-plus minutes to take control of the contest. The Cowboys kept adding to the lead and maintained at least a nine-point advantage the rest of the way as the Jayhawks spent the remainder of the game battling from behind.

TIP-INS

Oklahoma State led from wire-to-wire, never trailing in the game at all. . Kansas won the rebounding battle 37-30, including a decisive 23-12 edge in the second half. . The 18-point loss for Kansas marked their largest margin of defeat this season. . The 18-point win was the Cowboys’ largest margin of victory in a Big 12 game this year, with the previous high being their nine-point win over Iowa State on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Kansas: As the top seed in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, the Jayhawks will face the winner of the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State game in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys will play rival Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

ATLANTA – Kansas senior Devonte’ Graham has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 50th Citizen Naismith Trophy for men’s college player of the year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday. Graham is vying to become the second-straight Jayhawk to win the award as Frank Mason III was the 2017 recipient.

On every national player of year watch list, Graham is the only player in NCAA Division I this season averaging 17.0-plus pts, 7.0-plus assists, 1.7-plus steals and fewer than 3.0 turnovers per game. Graham is seventh nationally, second in the Big 12, in assists per game at 7.2. The Raleigh, North Carolina, guard is scoring 17.7 points per game, which is second in the conference. Graham is third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7), eighth in free throw percentage (82.6), fourth in 3-point field goals made (3.0), sixth in 3-point field goal percentage (42.3) and fifth in steals (1.6).

On Monday, Feb. 26, Graham was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the second time this season after guiding No. 6 Kansas (24-6, 13-4) to two victories that propelled the Jayhawks to their NCAA record 14th consecutive, 18th Big 12 and NCAA-leading 61st regular-season conference title.

This season, Graham is logging 37.4 minutes per game this year, which ranks as the fifth highest average in a single season at KU. His 90 3-pointers made are sixth on the KU season list and his 216 assists are tied for ninth with Aaron Miles (2005).

Historically, in Kansas’ last game Graham became the 15th player in KU history to score 1,600 points. He currently sits 15th with 1,605 points. Graham is the third player in school history to tally 1,600 points, 550 assists and 180 steals in a career. KU All-Americans Darnell Valentine and Kirk Hinrich are the only other Jayhawks to hit those numbers. Graham is second on the KU career 3-point field goals made list, currently at 274, ninth in assists at 555 and ninth in steals at 183.

Four finalists will be selected from this list of 10 by the Naismith Awards master voting academy. Fans will be able to support their favorite finalist by visiting www.naismithtrophy.com/vote from March 19-30 to cast their ballot and help decide the winner. The fan component counts for five percent of the vote. On April 1st, the 50th Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded during the Naismith Awards Brunch at Pearl Stable in San Antonio.

Celebrating its 50th year by honoring past winners, the Citizen Naismith Trophy has been presented to 45 unique winners at 31 schools over the last 49 years, starting with its first presentation to UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, now known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in 1969. Kansas has had two recipients with Danny Manning in 1988 and Mason last year.

2018 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men’s Semifinalists
Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Fr., F)
Marvin Bagley III, Duke (Fr., F)
Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State (Jr., F)
Trevon Bluiett, Xavier (Sr., G)
Miles Bridges, Michigan State (So., G/F)
Jalen Brunson, Villanova (Jr., G)
Keenan Evans, Texas Tech (Sr., G)
DEVONTE’ GRAHAM, KANSAS (Sr., G)
Jock Landale, St. Mary’s (Sr., C)
Trae Young, Oklahoma (Fr., G)

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ seniors led the charge on senior night.

Svi Mykhailiuk scored 17 points, Devonte Graham had 10 points and 11 assists and No. 6 Kansas beat Texas 80-70 to secure the outright Big 12 title.

Emotions ran high for the Jayhawks (24-6, 13-4 Big 12) in the final game at Allen Fieldhouse for Mykhailiuk, Graham and walk-on Clay Young.

“Been trying not to cry all day,” Graham said.

The emotion was channeled into a powerful start, as Kansas established control over the Longhorns (17-13, 7-10 Big 12) early. The Jayhawks wouldn’t look back after gaining the lead less than six minutes into the game.

“We didn’t play great tonight,” Bill Self said. “We played great in stretches though, first half especially. It’s nice to end your home season on a win so the guys can go out in style.”

Texas cut the lead to as little as six with just over 15 minutes remaining, but couldn’t complete the comeback. It carried the Big 12’s second-best shooting defense into the matchup, but allowed Kansas to shoot 60.3 percent from the field.

Kerwin Roach II led the way for the Longhorns with 18 points and eight assists, days after he hit the game-winner against Oklahoma State. Jacob Young posted 14 points and five rebounds.

Kansas has won its last nine meetings against Texas and has won 35 consecutive home finales. The Jayhawks are locked into the Big 12 tournament’s No. 1 seed.

NO MO

Texas was without star freshman Mo Bamba, who missed the game with a left toe injury. Bamba, a projected top-10 pick in the NBA draft, is second on the Longhorns in scoring (13 points per game) and first in rebounds (10.6) and blocks (3.8).

After he posted a career-high eight blocks against them in December, the Jayhawks tried to take advantage of his absence.

“That’s what we were emphasizing,” Graham said. “They didn’t have a rim protector, because Bamba’s one of a kind.”

AGGRESSIVE AZUBUIKE

While the spotlight belonged to the seniors, it was another strong game for Udoka Azubuike down low. He led all scorers with 20 points.

Azubuike entered the game leading the nation in field goal percentage (77.1 percent) and went 10 of 11 from the field. He also pulled in eight rebounds.

“That’s exactly how he should’ve played,” Graham said. “(Assistant coach Norm Roberts) came up to him in shootaround and told him just because Bamba’s out doesn’t mean you get to take the day off.”

SENIOR SENDOFF

Graham leaves Allen Fieldhouse a two-time All-Big 12 selection and No. 15 on the program’s all-time scoring list. Mykhailiuk ranks No. 6 all-time in 3-pointers made, and he cracked the top 50 on the all-time scoring list this season. Young appeared in 30 games in his three seasons as a walk-on.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas sealed the outright Big 12 championship after clinching at least a share of its 14th straight conference crown Saturday with a win over Texas Tech.

“I think they all feel great,” Self said. “If you don’t have to share it, you shouldn’t.”

Texas remains on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament. If the Longhorns aren’t chosen, it will be just the third time in the last 20 years they’ve missed the tourney.

UP NEXT

Kansas wraps up its regular season on the road against Oklahoma State Saturday.

Texas will finish the regular season by hosting No. 20 West Virginia.

— Associated Press —