Former Kansas men’s basketball player and college coaching legend Dean Smith died Feb. 7 at his home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the University of North Carolina announced Saturday. Smith was 83 years old.

A native of Emporia, Kansas, Smith competed at Kansas from 1949-53 and was a part of the Jayhawks’ NCAA national championship team in 1952, under the guidance of head coach Dr. Forrest “Phog” Allen. Smith and the Jayhawks were national runners-up in 1953.

“There have been a lot of pillars in our profession over time,” current Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “Of course, we can think of one every day here in Dr. Allen, at Oklahoma State there is Mr. Iba, there’s been Pete Newell, Bob Knight, Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) – all have been huge pillars in our profession, but one of the most classy and innovative coaches that our sport has ever known was Coach Dean Smith. Coach Smith was a Kansan, growing up in Topeka, and part of the 1952 national championship team at Kansas. He carries great weight around here now and all the way back to his days here as a lot of his teammates are still here in town and think the world of him.

“Of course, I was connected with Coach (Larry) Brown, but from reading and hearing what everyone talks about what a great coach he is – but they talk more about what a great impact he had on their lives as a man and as a mentor,” Self continued. “It’s a huge loss to not only our basketball world, not only to the college game, not only to the fans that follow it but to society in general. Because he was an innovator and certainly set an example for people to follow not just as players, but for the people that he touched directly and indirectly. It’s a sad day.”

As a student-athlete at Kansas, Smith knew he would become a coach someday. KU All-American Clyde Lovellette said he would work closely with then-assistant coach Dick Harp on scouting Jayhawk opponents to contribute prepping the team for upcoming games.

“I thought of Dean as a man who wanted to know how to coach basketball,” Lovellette said. “As a player, he would take the team we were going to play and run the plays against us. He was very involved in the structure and the play the other teams to use us to combat what they were going to throw against us. He was a statistician. (Former Kansas head coach) Dick Harp and Dean worked very close together. Dick felt very comfortable about turning the other team against us. Dean was a great ball player. He really enjoyed basketball and I knew down the road that Dean was going to do well.”

Lovellette – and the rest of the country – certainly learned that to be true. After graduation from KU, Smith served as an assistant coach at Kansas under Allen for the 1953-54 season. He later went on to coach North Carolina basketball from 1961-97, winning two NCAA national championships, in 1982 and 1993, and the 1971 NIT title. When he retired, he was the winningest coach in college basketball history compiling an 879-254 record. His 879 victories while at UNC rank fourth on the NCAA Division I all-time list.

“I can remember Dean not only being on that 1952 national championship team, but my relationship with him goes back even further than that when he played high school basketball at Topeka High,” Hall of Fame radio broadcaster Max Falkenstien said. “I even broadcasted some of those games, so Dean and I have a long-standing relationship. He many times told me that, ‘My dad has a recording of you broadcasting my games at Topeka High and I’m going to give it to you. He received that because you made me sound so good.’ Dean had a great career, everybody knows that, but he had a strong feeling for Kansas despite of the fact that he spent over 40 years at North Carolina. I think he still realized that this is where his roots were from.”

Smith took North Carolina to 23 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and 11 Final Fours. His Tar Heels won 13 Atlantic Coast Conference championships and won either the ACC regular-season race or the postseason conference tournament 20 out of 27 years. He coached 32 all-conference players and 26 All-Americans while at UNC.

Smith was the coach of the 1976 U.S. Olympic squad that won the gold medal in Montreal, Canada, and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983. He is also a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame, the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame, the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith was in the inaugural class of the College Basketball Hall of Fame inducted in 2006.

In Nov. 2013, Smith received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. The honor dates back to an executive order from former President John F. Kennedy establishing the award. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

— KU Sports Information —

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Storming the court after beating Kansas is becoming routine for Oklahoma State students.

Le’Bryan Nash scored 18 points to help the Cowboys upset the eighth-ranked Jayhawks 67-62 on Saturday.

Cowboys fans stormed the floor for the second straight year, and Oklahoma State has now beaten Kansas in four of the past six meetings in Stillwater.

The Cowboys trailed this one by 11 at halftime, but their pressure defense held the Jayhawks to 27 percent shooting in the second half.

“We just became more aggressive, our whole mentality,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. “I think it was more about us than them. We did make them turn it over a bit more, we did speed them up a little bit, but it got us being aggressive, it got us in attack mode.”

Phil Forte, Oklahoma State’s leading scorer for the season, had the flu and was limited to 29 minutes. He finished with 13 points after throwing up before the game.

“Just the fact that my teammates kept coming up to me and wanting me to play — I just tried to mentally push through it,” Forte said. “I didn’t want to let my teammates down, and I just wanted to go out there and give it all I had.”

Anthony Hickey added 15 points for the Cowboys (16-7, 6-5 Big 12), who were coming off a road win at No. 25 Texas on Wednesday.

“We got to keep our kids’ heads out of the clouds and get back down to earth,” Ford said. “It was a big win, because of the respect we have for Kansas, period.”

Wayne Selden Jr. scored 15 points, and Perry Ellis, Frank Mason III and Brannen Greene each added 10 points for the Jayhawks (19-4, 8-2), who had won five straight.

“We just didn’t play very well,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “You can’t look at any individual on our team and say they had a good game. We had a couple guys make some shots, but we didn’t play very well. We didn’t coach them very well. We didn’t do anything very well today.”

Nash’s spinning left-handed layup put the Cowboys up 59-52 with 7:21 to play. Kansas rallied back, but a steal by Jeff Newberry led to a fast-break layup by Hickey that gave Oklahoma State a 65-61 lead with 2:32 remaining.

Nash missed the front end of a one-and-one with 53 seconds left to give Kansas a chance, but the Jayhawks couldn’t score, and Hickey made a layup at the other end to make it a 67-62 game with 20 seconds to play.

Kansas led 16-13 when Nash was called for a charge, his second foul, with 10:52 left in the first half. With Nash on the bench, Kansas went on a 10-1 run to take a 26-14 lead. Kansas boosted its edge to 30-17 before the Cowboys rallied. Mitchell Solomon’s baseline jam on a nice find by Newberry cut Kansas’ lead to 30-24, forced a timeout and brought the crowd back into the game.

A 3-pointer by Greene in the final minute of the half put the Jayhawks up 41-30 at the break. Kansas shot 57 percent in the first half to overcome 11 turnovers.

Oklahoma State opened the second half with a flurry. A dunk by Michael Cobbins cut Kansas’ lead to 42-38 two minutes in. A 3-pointer by Hickey cut Oklahoma State’s deficit to a point, Forte’s 3-pointer put the Cowboys ahead, and it was a game the rest of the way.

“I feel like we just didn’t execute like we needed to on the offensive end,” Ellis said. “That was it, really.”

TIP-INS

Kansas: Mason was issued a technical foul with 2:40 left in the first half after a scramble for the ball near the Oklahoma State bench. … Self played for Oklahoma State from 1981-1985 and is from Okmulgee, Oklahoma. … Kansas made just 11 of 20 free throws.

Oklahoma State: Nash has scored in double figures every game this season. … The Cowboys shot 36 percent in the first half. … Forte took just six shots from the field.

COURTSIDE

Members of the school’s 1995 Final Four team and businessman T. Boone Pickens were on hand. Pickens, an Oklahoma State graduate, has donated more than $500 million to his alma mater. … Coach Eddie Sutton and former star post player Bryant Reeves were among those in attendance.

UP NEXT

Kansas: At Texas Tech on Tuesday.

Oklahoma State: At Baylor on Monday.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas first-year head coach David Beaty had a big smile on his face as he announced his initial Jayhawk signing class. Beaty and his staff worked diligently over the past two months to obtain the services of 24 new Jayhawks, with 16 of those student-athletes making it official by signing a National Letter of Intent Wednesday.

Overall, Beaty and company dipped into seven states in securing the 24-member signing class. Texas led the way with 17 recruits hailing from the Lone Star state, while the Jayhawks tabbed two native Kansans in quarterback Ryan Willis (Overland Park, Kansas/Bishop Miege HS) and offensive lineman Will Smith (Shawnee, Kansas/Butler CC). KU inked one player each from Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Oklahoma.

23678David Beaty discusses
Kansas’ 2015 signing class.
Kansas went heavy on defensive backs as seven of its incoming players are slated to play in the defensive backfield. Other areas of emphasis were the offensive line, with five players manning that position, and wide receiver, as four of the signees are expected to be pass catchers.

The 2015 Kansas football signing class includes 16 high school players, with the other eight coming from junior college. Eight of the 24-member class are currently on campus for the spring 2015 semester as December signees D’Andre Banks (OL), Bazie Bates IV (DB), Jacky Dezir (DL), Ke’aun Kinner (RB), Jayson Rhodes (OL), Smith (OL) and Brandon Stewart (DB) will compete during spring football, along with early enrollee Chase Harrell (WR).

Kansas football will continue celebrating its new crop of Jayhawks as it hosts several meet-and-greets with fans during the next few weeks as it has ‘Football in February’ events across the state. Next up is the Football Fanfest Saturday, Feb. 7. The event will take place in Anschutz Pavilion from 4-6:30 p.m. Williams Fund members, football season ticket holders and KU Alumni Association members will be admitted at 4 p.m. (with proof of membership or ticket purchase), while the doors will open at 5 p.m., for the general public.

In addition to Beaty and the coaching staff, KU football players both past and present will be in attendance at the Football Fan Fest and will be available for autographs. The event will feature a fun zone, face painter, balloon artists, the KU Band and Spirit Squads, Big and Baby Jay and much more.

Football Fan Fest will wrap up in Anschutz at 6:30 p.m., so fans can move next door to Allen Fieldhouse for Kansas women’s basketball’s ‘Jayhawks for a Cure’ game against Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. The Jayhawks will don brand-new white uniforms with pink trim in honor of the event, which benefits Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the KU Cancer Center. Tickets for the ‘Jayhawks for a Cure’ game start at $5 and for every fan in attendance, a $1 will be donated to the ‘Jayhawks for a Cure’ beneficiaries. Upon entrance to Allen Fieldhouse, fans will receive pink t-shirts while supplies last.

Following the Football Fanfest, ‘Football in February’ will tour around the state of Kansas primarily for happy hour events, in addition to one luncheon in Hays. All Jayhawk alumni, fans and friends are invited to events along the tour. Beaty, members of his coaching staff and special guests from the athletics department and alumni association will be at every stop. Fans can pick up 2015 commemorative football items and have a chance to win autographed merchandise and tickets.

The football Jayhawks will open up their 15-practice spring slate on Tuesday, March 24. The annual Spring Game will be held in Memorial Stadium on Saturday, April 25. Full details on the events surround the Spring Game will be released in the near future.

— KU Sports Information —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Now that Missouri has bid farewell and joined the Southeastern Conference, a new archrival is emerging for Kansas. Its name is Iowa State.

The 223rd consecutive sellout in historic Allen Fieldhouse was definitely louder for the Cyclones on Monday night than it was two days earlier when Kansas State came calling.

When the No. 8 Jayhawks got hot in the second half and raced to an 89-76 victory over the 11th-ranked Cyclone team that handed them a road loss the month before, the windows seemed to rattle in this 60-year-old arena.

Wayne Selden Jr., who scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half, admitted he’d been “haunted” by the 86-81 loss back on Jan. 17.

The pain persisted “that day, that whole next day. Maybe a little bit after,” said Selden. “We had to get onto the next (game). But a sense of urgency came back when we knew we had them next.”

Selden, after missing all three of his shots and scoring only one point in the first half, drilled four of his first five 3-pointers after intermission, often finding himself virtually unguarded on the right wing, as the Jayhawks (19-3, 8-1 Big 12) padded their lead in the Big 12 race to 1 1/2 games.

Georges Niang had 24 points for Iowa State (16-5, 6-3), which dropped out of a second-place tie with West Virginia.

Making sure to give Kansas State plenty of respect, Kansas coach Bill Self agreed the Cyclones, at least for now, are quicker than just about anyone to get Jayhawk blood boiling. The Cyclones were gunning for their third straight victory over Kansas `I think it’s cyclical. But right now, for sure,” said Self. “Right now, the way it sits, K-State would be our biggest rival but you could make a case that Iowa State has emerged as our other rival. Certainly the last couple of years, without question.”

Despite success at home in the Big 12 tournament against Kansas in recent years, the Cyclones have lost 10 straight in Allen Fieldhouse.

“What has Bill lost in this building, nine times?” said Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. “It’s tougher than hell to walk out of this building with a win.”

Leading 35-28 after a seesaw first half, the Jayhawks reeled off a 14-6 run the first 4 minutes, 45 seconds after intermission, with Selden scoring eight points, including two uncontested 3-pointers. Iowa State called time out and tried to regroup after Selden’s second 3-pointer put Kansas on top 49-34. But unable to stop Kansas’ transition game, the Cyclones never got the lead under nine points.

“Selden was great,” Hoiberg said. “You have to take your hat off to him. He hit some tough shots. He hit a couple where I didn’t think our urge3ncy was good enough.”

Perry Ellis’s three-point play gave the Jayhawks breathing room at 77-63 with less than 3 minutes left. Ellis had 17 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 16 for the Jayhawks, who are gunning for their 11th straight Big 12 title.

Bryce Dejean-Jones had 14 points for Iowa State and Monte Morris had 12.

Niang’s steal and Jameel McKay’s dunk sliced the lead briefly to single-digits at 54-45 but Kansas scored the next seven points, four on Oubre’s baskets and three on a shot by Selden, who was 5 for 7 from behind the arc.

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks are 91-15 all-time at home against Iowa State but the Cyclones are responsible for three of Kansas’ nine home losses since the Big 12 opened play in 1996-97. With 12 points, Frank Mason recorded his 19th straight double-digit game.

Iowa State: The Cyclones were held four points below their league-leading scoring average. They now have at least 15 assists in all but five games. Cyclones had a 41-38 rebound edge.

STAT LINES

Kansas: In regular-season play, No Bill Self Kansas team has been beaten twice by the same team in the regular season. The Jayhawks had five players in double figures and 22 assists, five more than the Cyclones, who came into the game leading the conference in assists

Iowa State: Iowa State’s first-half shooting of 35 percent was its lowest of the season. With nine rebounds, Bryce Dejean-Jones led both teams. But the Cyclones had five players with at least five, as did Kansas.

QUOTABLE:

“`Kansas played a great basketball game. This building explodes when they get those points in transition” said Hoiberg.

UP NEXT:

Kansas is at Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Iowa State hosts Texas Tech on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Frank Mason III scored 16 points with a couple of key shots in the go-ahead run and No. 9 Kansas held on for a 64-61 victory at TCU after his missed free throws Wednesday night.

The Big 12-leading Jayhawks (17-3, 6-1 Big 12), who had as much as a 13-point lead early, found themselves down after TCU scored the first seven points after halftime.

Mason’s driving layup with 13:26 left got the Jayhawks within 43-42 and started a 12-0 run that put them ahead to stay.

But a layup by Mason with 3:35 left was their last field goal. He then missed two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to leave TCU (14-6, 1-6) a chance to force overtime.

A long 3-point try by Charles Hill Jr. ricocheted off the back rim at the buzzer.

Kyan Anderson had 17 points for TCU, while Kenrich Williams had 13 points. Trey Zeigler had 12 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Washburn had 12 rebounds.

TCU, looking for another memorable victory over the top-10 Jayhawks, was within 59-57 on Zeigler’s three-point play with 37 seconds left. He grabbed a rebound of his own miss and made the putback while being fouled.

Kansas had gone almost three minutes without a score before Brannen Greene made five free throws in the closing stretch.

Two years ago, the Horned Frogs got their first-ever Big 12 victory when they lead throughout in a 62-55 win over then-No. 5 Kansas team. That gave the Jayhawks their consecutive losses for the first time in more than seven years.

TCU was ahead 37-36 when Anderson grabbed the rebound of his missed 3-pointer and was still open to hit a jumper to wrap up the spurt in the first 2 minutes after halftime.

That followed a 3-pointer by Anderson, which was TCU’s third shot of that possession. The Frogs started the half with Washburn surrounded by three defenders when he passed over them to Zeigler for a layup.

TIP-INS

Kansas: Leading scorer Perry Ellis scored the Jayhawks first five points, but also had two fouls in the first 76 seconds of the game, and didn’t play again until the second half.

TCU: The Horned Frogs, who were 13-0 in non-conference play, have already had two overtime losses in Big 12 play. They were coming off a loss at West Virginia on Saturday.

UP NEXT:

Kansas is home against Kansas State.

TCU plays Saturday at No. 15 Iowa State.

— Associated Press —

Kansas freshman Cliff Alexander has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in a vote by a media panel which covers the league, the conference announced Monday.

Alexander led Kansas to two victories over top-25 foes as the Jayhawks defeated No. 18 Oklahoma (85-78) and won at No. 17 Texas (75-62). The Chicago forward averaged 14.0 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the field. Alexander had his second double-double of the year versus OU, finishing with 13 points and a career-best 13 boards. He had a team-high 15 points at UT, while grabbing nine rebounds.  It marks the first time in 2014-15 that Alexander has scored in double digits in consecutive contests.

This is the third time this season a Jayhawk has been named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. Freshman Kelly Oubre, Jr., has been named twice on Dec. 22 and last week on Jan. 19. KU has had two or more student-athletes named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week each of the last three seasons and six of the last seven years.

Kansas (16-3, 5-1 Big 12) begins three games in six days at TCU (14-5, 1-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. (Central) on ESPNU.

— KU Sports Information —

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Kansas found a solution for Texas’ size and muscle: pinpoint passing and nearly flawless handling of the basketball.

Ruthlessly efficient on offense and willing to match Texas’ physical effort under the basket, the No. 11 Jayhawks snagged a key 75-62 Big 12 road win Saturday.

Freshman Cliff Alexander had 15 points and nine rebounds, and three other Jayhawks scored in double figures. Kansas (16-3, 5-1) had just three turnovers — none in the second half — tying a school record set back in 1966.

“This is a huge road win for us. It was big,” said Brannen Greene, who scored 14 points and made four of Kansas’ six 3-pointers.

Kansas coach Bill Self compared Texas’ size to top-ranked Kentucky, a team that blew out the Jayhawks by 32 back in November.

“Against Kentucky, we shied away from it. Today we didn’t,” Self said.

Isaiah Taylor scored 23 for Texas in his best game since returning from a long layoff with a broken wrist. But Texas (14-5, 3-3) showed little offensive flair beyond Taylor’s scoring. Taylor had just one assist as Texas’ big frontcourt all but disappeared for long stretches.

Cam Ridley, a 6-foot-9, 285-pound center who averaged nearly 15 points the previous two games, took just one shot in the second half, and had just four overall. Freshman Myles Turner, who is 6-11 and came in as Texas’ leading scorer, scored eight on 4-of-11 shooting, but the Big 12’s best free throw shooter didn’t get to the line.

“We’re one of the biggest teams in the country and we don’t take advantage of it,” senior forward Jonathan Holmes said. “I don’t understand it.”

The loss is a tough blow for Texas’ conference title hopes, which could all but end if the Longhorns lose at No. 9 Iowa State on Monday night.

Texas did what it could to energize its best home crowd of the season. The Longhorns’ mascot “Hook’Em” dropped about five stories down to the middle of the court and thousands of balloons were released from the rafters just before tipoff.

The Longhorns fed off the energy for a quick 11-2 lead but a Kansas program that has won 10 consecutive Big 12 titles isn’t one to be rattled by a little showmanship.

The Jayhawks slowly broke down Texas’ zone defense with 3-pointers before picking it apart from the inside. Perry Ellis scored eight points and Alexander had consecutive dunks to help the Jayhawks to a 32-30 halftime lead.

The teams traded the lead seven times in the opening minutes of the second half before Holmes’ 3-pointer put Texas up 42-38. The Jayhawks responded with an 8-0 run behind consecutive 3-pointers from Wayne Selden Jr., and Greene.

Greene’s last 3-pointer pushed the Kansas lead to six with just under seven minutes to play and the Jayhawks steadily pulled away.

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks not only silenced the Texas frontcourt offensively, they also handled themselves well on the boards. The Jayhawks outrebounded Texas 37-36 and grabbed 24 offensive boards.

Texas: Home hasn’t been friendly for the Longhorns over the last month. The Longhorns have lost three of their last five at the Erwin Center.

BLOCK PROBLEMS

Texas is lauded for its shot-blocking and the Longhorns had nine more against Kansas, five by Turner. But coach Rick Barnes sees a flaw in all those swats.

“We’re one of the best shot-blocking teams in the country. That also tells you our perimeter guys are getting beaten a lot. Our guard play has got to be better,” Barnes said.

DUNK CITY

Alexander had no trouble establishing his territory among Texas’ big men under the basket. Five of his six baskets came on dunks. He didn’t sound impressed by Texas’ Turner, who came into the season hyped as one of the top recruits in the country.

“He’s kind of thin,” Alexander said. “I played against Turner all the time in high school. I played against Ridley too … It was nothing to it.”

UP NEXT

Kansas visits TCU on Wednesday.

Texas visits Iowa State on Monday.

— Associated Press —

Being a student-athlete at the University of Kansas includes several encounters with history, but Thursday reached a new level. During President Barack Obama’s visit to Lawrence, the Kansas men’s basketball team met the U.S. Commander in Chief.

Obama became the fourth-sitting United States president to visit KU, but is the first in more than 100 years. Prior to Obama’s visit, William H. Taft was the most recent in 1911. Ulysses S. Grant (1873) and Rutherford B. Hayes (1879) were the other two presidents to visit KU while still in office. The Jayhawks gathered in Hadl Auditorium to await the president, and there was no doubt they were witnessing history.

“I don’t even know how to explain it, it was such a good experience,” sophomore Wayne Selden, Jr., said. “It was amazing just to be part of history, not just as a basketball team, but as people.”

Like Obama’s mother, junior Perry Ellis also hails from Wichita, Kansas. He couldn’t agree more with his teammate on his excitement to meet the most-powerful man in the world.

“It’s not an opportunity where many people get to meet him,” Ellis said. “I’m blessed and honored to have been able to do that. It was an awesome experience and we’ll never forget it.”

Head coach Bill Self was complimentary of the work done campus-wide to host the President in Lawrence, noting the event was first class and one the University of Kansas should be proud of. After the team spoke to Obama, a conversation that Self estimated to be 15 minutes in length, he received instant confirmation that his players appreciated and respected the opportunity.

“I have a pretty good relationship with our guys, but very rarely do they text me out of the blue and say, ‘Hey coach, how are you doing today?’” Self said. “But after this today, half of the team immediately texted me to say, ‘Coach that was awesome, thanks for allowing us to be a part of that.’ I know our guys all felt very honored and privileged to be a part of that today.”

Self talked about the president’s humor, how he still has a little speed on the court and even offered to answer players’ questions on how to improve their own skills. Just moments before Obama took the stage in Anschutz Pavilion to discuss issues much bigger than basketball, he had another piece of solid advice to offer the Jayhawks.

“He said, ‘You need to worry about your academics, too, you didn’t come here just to play ball.’” Self said. “I told him that ‘Mr. President, overall team GPA: 2.93.’ You know what he said? ‘Got to get it up to a 3.0.’ Basically telling them to not ever be satisfied, which I thought was pretty cool for our guys to hear.”

Upon concluding his brief visit with the small contingent of Jayhawks in Hadl, the President had nearly 7,000 more waiting for him inside Anschutz. President Obama spoke for more than half an hour about his family’s background in Kansas and shared his passion for his own policies and for the people of the United States.

“It’s a big deal for everybody, but you look at people like Svi (Mykhailiuk) and who knows how Svi has viewed the President of the United States after coming here from the Ukraine, but he filmed the whole thing – he was really into it,” Self said. “Then you think of kids, especially African-American kids, who maybe come from a tough environments like Cliff (Alexander) and Jamari (Traylor) being from Chicago, he wanted to know right away what high schools they went to. He made our kids feel special.”

— KU Sports Information —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kelly Oubre Jr. began the season on the bench. Cliff Alexander is still there at the start games. Both highly touted Kansas freshmen have gone through their share of growing pains.

They seemed to grow up quite a bit Monday night.

Oubre poured in 19 points, converting two driving layups down the stretch, and Alexander had 13 points and 13 rebounds to help the No. 11 Jayhawks hold off No. 19 Oklahoma, 85-78.

“They played a big part in tonight’s win,” said Perry Ellis, who added 16 points for Kansas.

The Jayhawks (15-3, 4-1 Big 12) led by 20 during a hot start, then watched their entire lead evaporate early in the second half. Oklahoma (12-6, 3-3) went on a 21-3 run out of the locker room to make it a game, only to come up short for the 14th straight time at Allen Fieldhouse.

“We played maybe as well as we can play in the first half,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “In the second half, we weren’t as good — we missed some shots — but they were great.”

Buddy Hield had 26 points to lead the Sooners, who still haven’t won in Lawrence since Billy Tubbs was their coach. Isaiah Cousins added 18 points, Ryan Spangler had 13 points and 10 boards, and Jordan Woodward finished with 10 points.

“I’m proud of the guys for fighting back,” Hield said. “We should have done a better job of executing in the first half, but Kansas did a great job of making shots.”

Indeed, a rather tense finish was surprising given the lopsided start.

Kansas hit its first eight 3-pointers, one shy of the school record, and a couple almost defied logic. Brannen Greene missed a long jumper but got the ball back a foot beyond the arc and promptly knocked down the 3. Moments later, Frank Mason’s 3-point try hit off the back iron, shot about six feet straight into the air and dropped right through the net.

By the time Devonte’ Graham missed with 7:05 left to the break, the Jayhawks led 39-19, and still had a comfortable 51-32 lead when the teams headed to their locker rooms.

“We knew we wouldn’t shoot like that in the second half,” Greene said.

Oklahoma stormed back to the floor and went on a 21-3 run to open the half, taking advantage of a 1-for-12 start by the Jayhawks to close to 54-50 with 13:01 to go. Hield was the trigger for the run, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers along with dishing a couple assists.

“In the second half we turned it around a little bit, had a little bit more fight,” Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. “We had a little bit of a chance there.”

The Sooners kept clawing back, just as Utah did in rallying from a 21-point hole against Kansas earlier this season. And when Hield made the first of two foul shots with 10 minute to go, the visitors had a 59-58 lead — their first of the game.

Back and forth they went from there, two of the teams picked to battle for the Big 12 title, the intensity ratcheting up so high that Self slammed the electronic marquee at the scorer’s table so hard that he knocked out an entire bank of lights.

The Sooners were still leading 71-69 with 3:45 left when Greene knocked down his third 3 of the game. TaShawn Thomas turned the ball over at the other end, his fifth of the game, and Mason hit a 15-footer to give Kansas a bit of a cushion with 2 1/2 minutes left.

Cousins hit a 3 to keep the Sooners alive, but Alexander punctuated his breakout performance with a dunk and Oubre glided in for a layup to make it 79-74 with a minute to go.

This time, the Jayhawks managed to hold their lead to the finish.

“It was a great, great basketball game,” Self said, “and an unbelievable win.”

TRAINER’S TABLE

Kansas F Jamari Traylor is dealing with a hip flexor, Self said. The starter was held without a point or rebound in 10 minutes, though he did commit two fouls.

STAT WATCH

Oklahoma had the Big 12’s best 3-point field-goal percentage, but the Jayhawks were 10 of 19 from the arc. The Sooners also led the league in defensive rebounds but were out-boarded, 39-36.

TIP-INS

Oklahoma was facing its eighth Top 25 opponent, including five of its first six in Big 12 play. … Hield has scored at least 20 points in five of his first six league games.

Kansas improved to 64-8 under Self in games following a loss. … Mason finished with 10 points, his 15th straight game in double figures scoring.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma visits No. 21 Baylor on Saturday.

Kansas heads to No. 17 Texas on Saturday.

— Associated Press —