LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Devonte’ Graham barged through a door with a big smile, wearing a hat tilted slightly forward over his eyes that read “14 straight.”

Kansas finally has its NCAA record.

Graham scored 26 points and the eighth-ranked Jayhawks wrapped up their 14th consecutive regular-season conference championship, clinching at least a tie for the Big 12 title with a 74-72 victory against sixth-ranked Texas Tech on Saturday.

“It’s just being a part of history and me and my boy are part of it,” Graham said as he turned toward fellow senior Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who scored 21.

Graham hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:30 remaining to help Kansas (23-6, 12-4) to its fourth straight win and a two-game lead over the Red Raiders, who have lost three in a row for the first time this season. The Jayhawks never trailed.

All 14 of the titles have come under coach Bill Self, who finished second in his first season at KU. Four of the previous 13 championships were shared. UCLA won 13 straight Pac-10 titles from 1967 to 1979.

“We picked the best time to be our best the last couple of weeks,” Self said. “To play with little depth and to play so small and to not be a physical team at all, to see how these guys hung in there and competed, I’m amazed.”

The current skid for the Red Raiders (22-7, 10-6) started when leading scorer Keenan Evans injured a toe in the first half of a loss to Baylor that pulled Kansas even in the Big 12 race. The senior guard scored six points in his third straight game in single digits since the injury.

Zhaire Smith scored 20 points and fellow freshman Jarrett Culver had 18 for Texas Tech, which dropped its second straight game since reaching the highest ranking in school history. The Red Raiders surpassed last week’s No. 7 ranking that matched the 1995-96 team.

“You’ve got to credit the opponent,” coach Chris Beard said. “It’s why their players, a lot of them, go to the NBA. It’s why they win our conference almost every year, or every year, not almost. We were part of the fight. And we intend to be part of the fight as we build the program.”

The Jayhawks scored the first eight points and led by eight with less than five minutes remaining after Graham hit a long 3 with the shot clock about to expire. But just like the rest of the season in the rugged Big 12, it wasn’t easy.

Smith had a putback dunk to pull Texas Tech even at 68-68 before Graham hit the go-ahead jumper and got an off-balance shot to fall while the Red Raiders committed turnovers on consecutive possessions.

After a throw-in to run off the final two seconds, the Jayhawks stormed the court to the cheers of scattered fans in blue in what had been a raucous arena. Texas Tech students camped overnight for a national TV event the morning of the game.

“I feel like this year was the year that everybody thought we were going to lose it,” Graham said. “As a team, we’ve just been battling, staying positive with each other, going through the grind. And now we made history.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: Mykhailiuk and Graham formed a pretty good first half-second half tag team. The Ukrainian guard had a team-leading 15 points and three assists before halftime, and Graham had 18 points in the second half.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders are trying to get as much out of Evans as possible, subbing him frequently to rest the injured toe. But his impact clearly isn’t the same, and whether the toe improves is likely to determine how far Tech goes in the NCAA tournament.

TOP-10 WINS

Kansas is 3-0 against top-10 teams this season and has won eight straight true road games against top-10 opponents. The last loss was to No. 4 Missouri on Feb. 2, 2012.

SMITH IN, GRAY OUT

Texas Tech senior Zach Smith entered in the first minute after missing 13 games with a broken foot. He replaced Justin Gray, who was flattened when he didn’t see a screen by 7-foot, 280-pound Udoka Azubuike. Gray stayed down for a couple of minutes before walking slowly to the bench. Gray didn’t return, and Smith finished with one point and four rebounds in 22 minutes.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Home against Texas on Monday before its regular-season finale at Oklahoma State next Saturday.

Texas Tech: At No. 21 West Virginia on Monday before finishing the regular season at home against TCU next Saturday. The Red Raiders and Mountaineers are tied for second in the Big 12.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball held off a comeback attempt by No. 23 Oklahoma State in the final quarter to outlast the Cowgirls, 66-59, on Wednesday night inside Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas (11-15, 3-13 Big 12) kept Oklahoma State (18-9, 9-8 Big 12) from completing a comeback, keeping the momentum in KU’s favor despite the Cowgirls best efforts to steal the advantage late in the game. The Jayhawks never relinquished the lead in the final 10 minutes and snapped their 12-game losing streak, while recording their first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since 2014.

The Jayhawks’ win over No. 23 Oklahoma State marks their first Big 12 victory over a ranked opponent since the 2014 slate when KU snapped then-No. 7 Baylor’s 53-game conference win streak.

KU’s offense was led by four Jayhawks netting with double digits. Junior guard Kylee Kopatich scored a team-high 19 points, while connecting on 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point line. Junior guard Christalah Lyons notched her 24th double-figure scoring performance with 15 points, while junior forward Austin Richardson added 13 points and seven rebounds. Redshirt-sophomore center Tyler Johnson concluded KU’s scoring leaders with 11 points.

The Cowgirls were paced by Big 12 scoring leaders graduate guard Loryn Goodwin and senior center Kaylee Jensen. Goodwin netted a game-high 21 points, while Jensen notched a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Goodwin highlighted the stat line in the opening 10 minutes of play for the Cowgirls, knocking in half of Oklahoma State’s 22 points in the first quarter, including the first basket of the game.

Despite OSU starting the game on a hot streak, the Jayhawks never allowed the Cowgirls to take a double-digit lead in the first period, staying within six points of the lead until the 3-minute mark when a 3-pointer from junior guard Maria Castro put the Cowgirls ahead, 20-11.

Kansas narrowed the margin back to five with a pair of long range baskets from senior forward Chayla Cheadle and Richardson to outscore OSU 6-2 to end the period. Kansas headed into the second quarter Oklahoma State, 22-17.

After a 7-3 run to the second period, Oklahoma State owned a 29-20 advantage with just under five minutes remaining in the half. When it looked as if the Cowgirls were going to continue stretching their lead, the Jayhawks stopped OSU in its tracks and went on an 11-0 run to take a 31-29 lead with a minute and a half to go in the opening half.

KU’s 11 unanswered points were highlighted by six-straight points from Johnson to end the Kansas run. Goodwin tied the game up at 31 with a layup, but Johnson sank 1-of-2 from the free throw line to give Kansas a one-point lead at the half, 32-31.

The Jayhawks and Cowgirls battled back and forth to start the second half with neither team owning a lead larger than four for the first four minutes of the third quarter. Kansas took a 46-40 lead after going 4-of-5 from the floor and outscoring the Cowgirls 12-2. OSU’s junior guard Karli Wheeler knocked in back-to-back 3-point baskets to tie the game up at 46 with 1:50 remaining in the period.

After freshman guard Braxtin Miller connected on just one of her free throw attempts, the Jayhawks knocked in four-straight points to take a 50-47 lead before Miller responded by sinking a three to even the score at 50, heading into the final 10 minutes.

Kansas ran out to 59-52 lead to start the fourth quarter, after knocking in five-straight points to start the period. Oklahoma State never went away and netted the next seven points, including five from the charity stripe to tie the game back up, 59-59.

After nearly two minutes without a bucket from either side, Kopatich netted her fifth 3-point basket of the night to put Kansas ahead 62-59 with 42 seconds remaining. Richardson and Lyons sealed the KU victory with four-straight free throws to give the Jayhawks their third conference win of the season.

UP NEXT
Kansas travels west on I-70 to face in-state rival Kansas State in the Manhattan edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m., inside Bramlage Coliseum.

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Devonte Graham had 23 points and seven assists, Malik Newman added 20 and No. 8 Kansas beat Oklahoma 104-74 on Monday night.

The Jayhawks (22-6, 11-4 Big 12) controlled things early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead less than four minutes into the game and forcing Lon Kruger to burn a timeout before the first media break. The Sooners (16-11, 6-9 Big 12) never recovered.

Kameron McGusty led the way for Oklahoma with 22 points while Jamuni McNeace added 18 in his first career start.

It was a cold shooting night for Trae Young, who missed 10 of his 13 shots. His 11 points were a season-low. He did have nine assists.

Kansas broke the 100-point threshold for the first time since December as six Jayhawks scored in double figures.

The win marks No. 300 all-time in Big 12 play for the Jayhawks. Only two other schools (Texas, Oklahoma) have surpassed the 200 mark.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas now sits a half-game ahead of Texas Tech atop the Big 12 standings after gaining a game on the Red Raiders when they fell to Baylor Saturday.

Oklahoma has now dropped its last six games, and has fallen to No. 8 in the Big 12. The skid has led some to speculate that the Sooners could miss the NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT

Kansas has a road clash with Texas Tech Saturday, serving as a battle for the outright Big 12 lead.

Oklahoma will look to rebound at home against a hot Kansas State team on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Bob Huggins didn’t mince words in his postgame press conference after West Virginia lost to Kansas.

“They shot 29 free throws,” Huggins said. “We shot two. You don’t think that had anything to do with it?”

Huggins’ rising frustration finally boiled over with eight seconds left, when he was given a double-technical and was ejected for jawing at a ref. It was a moot argument by that point though, as Udoka Azubuike scored 21 points and Devonte’ Graham added 15 to help No. 13 Kansas beat No. 20 West Virginia 77-69 on Saturday night.

The Jayhawks (20-7, 10-4 Big 12) actually finished with 35 free throw attempts, as 29 was the number when Huggins left the floor. Part of that was due to the Mountaineers (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) offense that settled for jumpers instead of attacking the rim often.

Daxter Miles Jr. led West Virginia with 22 points, and hit 6-of-9 shots from behind the arc. Jevon Carter added 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Kansas trailed by as much as 12 with 10 minutes left in the game, when Miles hit a three to silence the crowd following an Azubuike dunk. They would rally, however, outscoring West Virginia 29-11 down the stretch and tightening down defensively, especially in the last few minutes.

“We did keep our composure, and we kept grinding,” coach Bill Self said. “Then we got key stops late, and rebounded the ball a little better late.”

It’s the Jayhawks’ third straight comeback victory over the Mountaineers, as they erased a 16-point deficit in Morgantown earlier this season and a separation of 14-points at home last year.

West Virginia has still yet to win in Allen Fieldhouse, falling to 0-6 in the building. It’s won in every other Big 12 arena since joining the conference in 2012, but hasn’t found the formula for doing so in Lawrence.

MORE FREE THROWS:

Aside from the discrepancy in total free throw count, the charity stripe still served as a key difference as seven of Azubuike’s 21 came from the free throw line, on an efficient seven of 10.

Azubuike’s struggles from the line were highly publicized earlier in the season, especially after going 1 of 8 in a five-point loss to Oklahoma in January. So, then, cue his teammates’ delight when the work to improve from the line paid off.

“7 for 10?” Graham interrupted Azubuike as he answered a question. “Oh, he went crazy!”

LESS PRESS MESS:

Kansas has fallen victim to the high-tempo “Press Virginia” defense numerous times in the past, but won the turnover battle for the second time against West Virginia this season, 13-8. But while they may have kept the ball out of the Mountaineers’ hands, the Jayhawks were still visibly disrupted.

“Their pressure totally took us out of running our stuff,” Self said. “So even though we didn’t turn it over, their pressure was still effective.”

INTO THE RAFTERS:

Former Kansas big man Cole Aldrich had his jersey retired at halftime, making him the 32nd player to have his number hanging in Allen Fieldhouse.

Aldrich played three seasons for the Jayhawks, earning two All-America selections and two Big 12 defensive player of the year awards. He ranks in the program’s top-10 all-time in career blocks (253), rebounds (860) and field goal percentage (57.4 percent), and was part of the 2007-08 national championship team that was also honored during the game.

BIG PICTURE:

Kansas earns a much-needed home win after struggling to do so at times throughout the season. The Jayhawks are still just one game back of Texas Tech, who they will face on the road a week from tonight.

West Virginia is in danger of falling out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in 50 weeks, dating back to 2015. The Mountaineers are now three games back of Texas Tech, and sit tied with Kansas State for third.

UP NEXT:

Kansas has a quick turnaround, playing host to Oklahoma and Trae Young Monday night.

West Virginia hits the road once again, traveling south to face Baylor on Tuesday.

— Associated Press —

ATLANTA – Kansas senior Devonte’ Graham has been named one of 30 men’s basketball players to the Citizen Naismith Trophy Late Season Team competing to receive the 50th Citizen Naismith Trophy, the Atlanta Tip Off Club announced Wednesday. Graham is vying to become the third Jayhawk to win the Naismith Trophy with Danny Manning claiming the honor in 1988 and Frank Mason III last season.

Graham is the only player in NCAA Division I averaging 17.0-plus points, 7.0-plus assists, 1.5-plus steals and fewer than 3.0 turnovers per game. The Raleigh, North Carolina, native is fifth nationally in assists per game at 7.2 and he is second the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7. Graham is scoring 19.0 points per game in Big 12 play and averaging 17.5 points in all games, which is third in the Big 12. He is second in the conference in assists (7.2), eighth in free throw percentage (82.7), fifth in 3-point field goals made (3.0) and fifth in steals (1.7).

Graham recently became the 22nd player in KU history to record 1,500 career points. He currently sits in 20th place of that category at 1,531 while his 537 assists are 10th and his 180 steals are also 10th on the KU career books. Graham is the third player in school history to tally 1,500 points, 500 assists and 175 steals in a career. KU All-Americans Darnell Valentine and Kirk Hinrich are the only other Jayhawks to hit those numbers. Valentine had 1,821 points, 609 assists, 336 steals from 1978-81 and Hinrich recorded 1,753 points, 668 assists, 206 steals from 2000-03. Additionally, Graham sits third on the KU career 3-pointers made list, currently at 263.

From this list of 30, the Naismith Trophy’s 10 semifinalists will be revealed on Feb. 28, and only those 10 players are eligible for the group of four finalists, which will be released in mid-March. Fans, once again, will be able to vote for their favorite player by visiting naismithtrophy.com/vote between March 19-30 to cast their ballot, and the fan component counts for five percent of the overall final vote. The 50th Citizen Naismith Trophy will be awarded on April 1 in San Antonio, during the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Players come from 10 conferences with the Big 12 and BIG EAST leading the way with five players apiece.

Citizen Naismith Trophy Late Season Team
Name, School (Class, position)
Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Fr., F)
Marvin Bagley III, Duke (Fr., F)
Mohamed Bamba, Texas (Fr., F)
Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State (Jr., F)
Joel Berry II, North Carolina (Sr., G)
Trevon Bluiett, Xavier (Sr., G)
Mikal Bridges, Villanova (Jr., G/F)
Miles Bridges, Michigan State (So., G/F)
Bryce Brown, Auburn (Jr., G)
Jalen Brunson, Villnova (Jr., G)
Jevon Carter, West Virginia (Sr., G)
Gary Clark, Cincinnati (Sr., F)
Mike Daum, South Dakota State (Jr., F)
Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (Sr., C)
Carsen Edwards, Purdue (So., G)
Vince Edwards, Purdue (Sr., F)
Keenan Evans, Texas Tech (Sr., G)
Marcus Foster, Creighton (Sr., G)
DEVONTE’ GRAHAM, KANSAS (Sr., G)
Kyle Guy, Virginia (So., G)
Tra Holder, Arizona State (Sr., G)
Chandler Hutchison, Boise State (Sr., G)
Kevin Knox, Kentucky (Fr., F)
Jock Landale, St. Mary’s (Sr., C)
Caleb Martin, Nevada (Jr., F)
Luke Maye, North Carolina (Jr., F)
Collin Sexton, Alabama (Fr., G)
Landry Shamet, Wichita State (So., G)
Allonzo Trier, Arizona (Jr., G)
Trae Young, Oklahoma (Fr., G)

— KU Athletics —

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Kansas responded to arguably its worst loss of the year with a much-needed win in a hostile environment — one that kept the Jayhawks within reach of Big 12-leading Texas Tech.

Performances like the one they put forth on Tuesday night are a big reason why the Jayhawks win the Big 12 every year.

Udoka Azubuike scored 19 points, Malik Newman had 17 and 13th-ranked Kansas bounced back from a brutal loss at Baylor by beating Iowa State 83-77.

Lagerald Vick scored 16 points for the Jayhawks (20-6, 9-4 Big 12), who shot 48.4 percent from the floor and committed just seven turnovers.

Azubuike led the way, hitting 9 of 10 shots and adding three blocks.

“Whenever we need a big basket, we know we can go into the big fella,” Newman said.

Kansas took a five-point lead into the break after Nick Weiler-Babb’s long 3 to end the half was waved off, and it quickly jumped ahead by 11 early in the second half.

The Cyclones chipped away at that deficit at times, even getting as close as three, but the Jayhawks pushed their lead to 76-63 with 4:46 left on back-to-back alley-oop dunks by Azubuike.

That capped a run of six straight makes for the Jayhawks — who also held Iowa State without a field goal for over four minutes down the stretch.

“We took too many bad shots in the first half,” Kansas Bill Self said. “You’re going to shoot a good percentage if you throw it inside a lot.”

Freshman Cameron Lard scored 19 points with 11 rebounds for Iowa State (13-12, 4-9). But freshman Lindell Wigginton, who burned the Jayhawks for 27 points in their first meeting, was held to 12 points on 3 of 12 shooting. He also had five turnovers.

Weiler-Babb had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists after missing four games with knee tendinitis.

“We knew they’d come in here focused. They’re a resilient group,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said of Kansas. “We weren’t good enough on the defensive end.”

THE BIG PICTURE

Kansas: This was a game KU couldn’t afford to lose if it hoped to keep its quest for a 14th straight conference title alive. The Jayhawks’ next three games: at home to West Virginia and Oklahoma and on the road at Tech, will likely determine their fate. Still, seeing the Jayhawks respond in a crucial spot as the season draws to a close is something their Big 12 rivals have seen over and over again.

Iowa State: The Cyclones encountered a Kansas team with something to prove after it got waxed by Baylor 80-64 over the weekend. That’s a tough combination to overcome in a rebuilding year — though Lard’s monster game, on the heels of being named Big 12 newcomer of the week on Monday — was highly encouraging.

THE NUMBERS

Devonte’ Graham finished with 13 points for Kansas, but he was just 3 of 16 from the field. The rest of the Jayhawks combined to shoot 27 of 46. …Iowa State’s Donovan Jackson was just 1 of 9 from the field. …Svi Mykhailiuk had 10 points for the Jayhawks. …The Cyclones shot just 3 of 16 on 3s, but Zoran Talley had his best game of the year. He scored 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting

HE SAID IT

“For (Graham) to go 3 for 16, and we were able to put him on our back for a change…and come out with the (win), it’s big — and it just speaks to how good our team can actually be when everything is clicking,” Newman said.

UP NEXT

Kansas hosts the Mountaineers on Saturday.

Iowa State travels to face Kansas State on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

WACO, Texas (AP) — Manu Lecomte took a deep 3-pointer and then slowly took a few steps back toward the other goal while watching the ball go through the net. The point guard then made another long shot for Baylor’s next basket.

The consecutive 3s were part of eight straight points by Lecomte after No. 10 Kansas had pulled within a basket, and the Bears went on an 80-64 victory over the Jayhawks, a team they hadn’t beaten in five years.

“Everybody was playing really well, so I was kind of out there being a facilitator for everybody. And then when we needed a shot up, I took them,” said Lecomte, who finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

“Those two 3s he made were probably 27, 28 feet. He’s just a good player and jumped up and made a couple of big-time shots,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “They were just clutch plays.”

EDITOR’S PICKS

Kansas’ Big 12 streak in jeopardy, Oklahoma in freefall
Saturday’s Big 12 action could be a boost to the league as a whole, but it wasn’t welcome news for Kansas, Oklahoma or West Virginia.

The Jayhawks (19-6, 8-4 Big 12) trailed 30-20 at halftime after having more turnovers (nine) than made field goals (seven) before the break. They were down by as many as 13 points after that but closed to 58-56 with 7:14 left after consecutive jumpers by Lagerald Vick.

Lecomte then made a jumper before his only two made 3-pointers for Baylor (15-10, 5-7).

“They were doing a good job of running him off the baseline screens and stuff like that and kind of lost sight of him,” Kansas guard Devonte Graham said.

Jo Lual-Acuil had 19 points for Baylor, which has won three in a row after a four-game losing streak. Nuni Omot scored 17, and Jake Lindsey 11. Mark Vital grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots .

“Each game is huge now because we had dug ourselves such a hole,” coach Scott Drew said. “The great thing, I’ve said this all along, in the Big 12, there is no bad loss and there’s only quality win opportunities.”

Graham had 14 of his 23 points after halftime, while reserve Malik Newman finished with 14 for Kansas.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas’ lowest-scoring half this season had been 28 points. This was its lowest-scoring game overall.

“We were obviously better three weeks ago than we’re playing right now,” Self said.

Baylor ended an 11-game losing streak in the series against the Jayhawks, including a 70-67 loss in Lawrence on Jan. 20. The Bears need to keep winning games to get back in position for a fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth that looked as if it were slipping out reach when they lost six of seven to end January.

BLACK EYE

Kansas’ Svi Mykhailiuk, who came in averaging 16.4 points per game, sustained a black eye when he was hit in the face by the hand of teammate Marcus Garrett while the two were shooting during pregame warm-ups. Mykhailiuk finished with two points on 1-of-8 shooting (0-of-6 on 3s). He came in a 46 percent shooter from long range.

“He was messed up. He was icing it the whole time,” Self said. “I think he made eight 3s in a row yesterday when we were scrimmaging, so I thought he may come out and be on fire, and he was never able to get on track.”

PROBLEMS INSIDE AND OUT

Kansas was only 6-of-31 (19 percent) on 3-pointers, with Graham and Newman a combined 6-of-20. Along with the issues deep, post players Udoka Azubuike and Mitch Lightfoot were both in foul trouble throughout the game. They played a combined 41 minutes.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas is going to fall out of the top 10 when the new poll comes out Monday. The Jayhawks also could be out of the Big 12 lead, depending on the outcome of No. 7 Texas Tech’s game at Kansas State on Saturday night.

UP NEXT

Kansas is on the road again Tuesday night at Iowa State before consecutive home games against No. 19 West Virginia and No. 17 Oklahoma.

Baylor has a quick turnaround and a short trip, about 100 miles down I-35, to play at Texas on Monday night.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Devonte’ Graham scored 24 points, Udoka Azubuike added 16 and No. 10 Kansas beat TCU 71-64 on Tuesday night.

The Jayhawks (19-5, 8-3 Big 12) have struggled this season to dominate at home as they traditionally have, but were able to avoid dropping two straight in Allen Fieldhouse thanks to a grind-it-out finish.

Kouat Noi led the way for the Horned Frogs (16-8, 4-7) with 17 points. Vlad Brodzianksy had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Foul trouble limited Azubuike to play just seven minutes in the first half for Kansas, but the rest allowed him to play 18 in the second. He finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Mitch Lightfoot played 22 minutes and had six points in his first career start for the Jayhawks after replacing the struggling Lagerald Vick earlier this week. Vick, however, played seven more minutes than Lightfoot in the first game since the move was made.

Alex Robinson finished with nine assists, passing coach Jamie Dixon for seventh place on TCU all-time list. Kenrich Williams moved into fifth place on TCU’s rebounding list, going ahead of Mickey McCarty.

TCU is 1-4 against top 10 teams this season. The Horned Frogs haven’t won a road game against a ranked opponent since 1998.

Kansas is now 16-2 all-time against TCU, and is a perfect 7-0 inside Allen Fieldhouse.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas earns a much-needed win after dropping its third Big 12 game this past weekend to Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks now sit in first place in the conference, one-half game ahead of Texas Tech.

TCU continues its slide since losing star Jaylen Fisher, whose knee injury in January sidelined him for the rest of the year.

UP NEXT

Kansas travels to Baylor Saturday for a matchup with the last place Bears.

TCU returns home to host Texas on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

LOS ANGELES – Kansas senior Devonte’ Graham has been named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s Late Season Top 20, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Monday evening on ESPNU.

The is the second honor Graham picked up on the day as he was named one of 10 candidates for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award early Monday afternoon. Graham is vying to become the second straight Jayhawk to win the Cousy and Wooden awards as Frank Mason III was the 2017 recipient of both honors.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the first half of the 2017-18 season, the list comprises of 20 student-athletes who are currently the front-runners for the John R. Wooden Award and the 10-member Wooden All America Team.

Graham is the only player in NCAA Division I averaging 17.0-plus points, 7.0-plus assists, 1.8-plus steals and fewer than 3.0 turnovers per game. The Raleigh, North Carolina, native is fifth nationally in assists per game at 7.5 and he leads the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.8. Graham is scoring 18.7 points per game in Big 12 play and averaging 17.2 points in all games, which is third in the Big 12. He is second in the conference in assists (7.5), fifth in free throw percentage (84.9), fifth in 3-point field goals made (2.9) and fourth in steals (1.9).

Graham recently became just the third player in school history to tally 1,400 points, 500 assists and 175 steals in a career. Darnell Valentine and Kirk Hinrich are the only other Jayhawks to hit those numbers. Graham is 25th on the Kansas career scoring list (1,471), 10th in assists (523) and 10th in steals (178). He is also on pace to became the No. 2 3-point shooter in school history. His 253 treys trail Billy Thomas (269 from 1995-98) by 16 for second on Kansas’ career 3-pointers list.

The Big 12 leads all conferences with five selections; followed by the Big East and Big Ten with four apiece, the Pac-12 with three; the ACC with two; and the SEC and WCC with one selection apiece.

Players not appearing on this list are still eligible for the National Ballot, which will be announced in early March and will consist of 15 top players. Prior to being listed on the National Ballot, each player must be certified by their university to meet the qualifications for the Award, including: candidates must be a full-time student making progress toward graduation and have a cumulative 2.00 grade point average since enrolling in their school; candidates must exhibit strength of character, both on and off the court; candidates should contribute to team effort; candidates must excel in both offense and defense; and candidates should be considered based on their performance over the course of the entire season. Players not listed on the National Ballot will no longer be eligible for the Wooden Award nor the John R. Wooden Award All America Team. Voting begins at the end of the season, and voters, consisting of 1,000 members of the national college basketball media, will take into account the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

John R. Wooden Award Presented By Wendy’s
2017-18 Men’s Late Season Top 20
Name, School (Class, Position)
Deandre Ayton, Arizona (Fr., F)
Marvin Bagley III, Duke (Fr., F)
Mohamed Bamba, Texas (Fr., F)
Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio State (Jr., F)
Trevon Bluiett, Xavier (Sr., G)
Mikal Bridges, Villanova (Jr., G/F)
Miles Bridges, Michigan State (So., G/F)
Jalen Brunson, Villanova (Jr., G)
Jevon Carter, West Virginia (Sr., G)
Carsen Edwards, Purdue (So., G)
Vincent Edwards, Purdue (Sr., F)
Keenan Evans, Texas Tech (Sr., G)
Marcus Foster, Creighton (Sr., G)
DEVONTE’ GRAHAM, Kansas (Sr., G)
Tra Holder, Arizona State (Sr., G)
Jock Landale, Saint Mary’s (Sr., C)
Luke Maye, North Carolina (Jr., F)
Collin Sexton, Alabama (Fr., G)
Allonzo Trier, Arizona (Jr., G)
Trae Young, Oklahoma (Fr., G)

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kendall Smith knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing in the first half, silencing a buzzing sellout crowd of Kansas fans. The Oklahoma State guard instinctively put his finger to his lips in the universal sign for “shush.”

Smith silenced them again when it mattered most.

The senior backup scored 24 points, including the clinching free throws in the final seconds, and the Cowboys held on to beat the Jayhawks 84-79 on Saturday for a rare win in Allen Fieldhouse.

“Just one of those, you know, you play college basketball and when you’re done you say, `I was in Allen Fieldhouse one time and I hit a shot and silenced the crowd,” Smith said afterward.

Cameron McGriff added 20 points and Jeffrey Carroll had 15 for the Cowboys (14-9, 4-6 Big 12), who built an 18-point first-half lead and dominated the boards in ending their three-game losing streak.

It was the third loss for the Jayhawks (18-5, 7-3) in the Phog this season, their most since the 1998-99 season. It was also their second home loss in league play.

“This is as tough an environment you can play in college basketball,” Smith said. “I think we had a full team effort, topo to bottom. Everybody came in and gave us something.”

Devonte Graham gave the Jayhawks a chance when his two foul shots drew them within 82-79 with 14.2 seconds to go. But after they squandered several seconds trying to foul Smith, the guard capped his big performance by knocking down two free throws to put the game away.

“We’ve been in a lot of these games, really competitive,” said Cowboys coach Mike Boynton, whose team won without injured guard Tavarius Shine. “Really proud of my kids for showing the kind of fight and competitive spirit. Got a locker room full of guys that always respond.”

Udoka Azubuike had 20 points and Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk scored 17 apiece for Kansas, which was celebrating 120 years of basketball by welcoming back dozens of former players and coaches.

They didn’t have much to cheer about on a sunny Saturday morning.

A nip-and-tuck start gave way to complete first-half dominance by the Cowboys, who at one point had more second-chance points (18) than the Jayhawks had total (16).

One of the nation’s most prolific 3-point shooting teams, the Jayhawks were relegated to dumping the ball to Azubuike in the post. And the big fella was unable to keep up with Oklahoma State’s own 3-point barrage, which at one point stretched the lead to 18 points late in the half.

Kansas coach Bill Self, who typically stalks the sideline, instead sat glumly as his team followed a 3-for-15 start from the field with three consecutive turnovers.

The Jayhawks’ 46-33 halftime deficit matched their biggest of the season.

“Right from the jump,” Self said, “they were so much quicker and more competitive.”

Kansas dug into its disadvantage early in the second half, quickly trimming the lead to seven points on Newman’s flurry of baskets. But for the next 10 minutes, the Cowboys matched the Jayhawks shot-for-shot, answering each attempt at starting a run with a crucial rebound or big basket.

The Cowboys still clung to a 78-71 lead after Newman missed a foul shot with about two minutes left, and Smith scored twice as the Jayhawks were trying to foul him to keep a comfortable lead.

Kansas finally got the game to one possession, only for Smith to hit the clinching foul shots.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Graham, who has been hobbled the last week by a knee injury. “We’re way better on the road than we have been at home. We have to find a way to come out and crush teams the way they came out and stepped on our throats today.”

120 YEARS OF HOOPS

The Jayhawks recognized the birth of its basketball program during a halftime ceremony, highlighted by the 30th anniversary of their 1988 title team. There was also a reunion banquet Saturday night with more than 400 players, staff and coaches from every era expected to attend.

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma State had a 41-28 advantage on the glass, which produced a 26-7 advantage in second-chance points. That kind of hustle infuriated Self and proved too much for Kansas to overcome.

Kansas’ shooting went wayward as the Cowboys mixed zone and man-to-man defenses. The Jayhawks were 8 of 22 from beyond the 3-point arc, and several of those makes were in desperation time.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State returns home against Baylor on Tuesday night.

Kansas continues its homestand Tuesday night against TCU.

— Associated Press —