LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self insists he hasn’t spent any additional time this season working on late-game situations, those pressure-packed moments that are often the difference between victory and defeat.
Perhaps he should.
The No. 12 Jayhawks were in another back-and-forth affair on Saturday, this time with their biggest league rival. It took 23 points from Devonte Graham, two go-ahead free throws from Malik Newman with 15 seconds left, and some salty defense on the final possession to hold off the Wildcats, 73-72.
It was the Jayhawks’ third Big 12 win by a combined 10 points.
“We don’t have the same teams we’ve had in the past where you can pull away from folks,” Self said. “When you play better competition, any win is a good win, and we have to understand that.”
Udoka Azubuike added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Jayhawks (14-3, 4-1), who beat their Interstate 70 rival for the sixth straight time and 12th in a row at Allen Fieldhouse.
“We’ve got that confidence that in crunch time we can get that last stop or execute that last play on offense,” Graham said. “That just translates to a real game.”
Kansas State (12-5, 2-3) led 67-64 with 3 minutes left when Lagerald Vick knocked down a 3-pointer in front of the Jayhawks’ bench and Newman scored on a put-back to give Kansas the lead.
It was the first of five lead changes in the final 2:18.
Xavier Sneed gave the Wildcats the lead with 30.2 seconds left when he made two free throws, but Newman got to the line at the other end and the 86-percent foul shooter converted both. That gave Kansas State the last shot, but Barry Brown’s rushed 3-pointer from well beyond the arc was no good.
“It felt like a shot I’ve shot before, and I shot it with confidence,” Brown said of the final play, which was designed to go to teammate Dean Wade on a pick-and-pop. “Just tried to make a play.”
Wade had 22 points to lead the Wildcats. Cartier Diarra added a career-high 18, though he was also whistled for a crucial technical foul, while Brown had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds.
“Pretty frustrated,” Wade said. “Pretty disappointed.”
The Jayhawks raced to a 13-4 lead before the Wildcats ratcheted up the defensive intensity. Kansas struggled to get the ball inside and eventually went nearly 10 minutes with just one field goal.
The Wildcats slowly pulled ahead during a 14-3 run, but back-to-back 3s by Svi Mykhailiuk — the last from about 25 feet at the buzzer — knotted the game 34-all at the break.
That’s when Azubuike and Graham went to work.
The big fella scored the first two baskets of the second half, then Graham knocked down a 3, as the pair got an inside-outside game going. They combined for all the Jayhawks’ points during a 15-2 run that turned a 36-34 deficit into a 49-38 lead with about 13 minutes left in the game.
Diarra clawed the Wildcats back once more, at one point scoring 11 straight for them, and the game was tied at 64 at the under-4 media timeout to set up a frantic race to the finish.
“We’re going to be fine. Just a tough loss,” Brown said. “We’re going to bounce back after this, like our last loss. Get back in the gym and focus on our next game.”
BRUCE’S BEEF
Kansas State coach Bruce Weber took umbrage with Diarra’s late technical for trash-talking, and he said several other calls were questionable. But asked for specifics, he replied: “I want to keep my job. I don’t want to get fined. I’ve worked too hard for it.”
DE SOUZA CLEARED
Silvio De Souza, a 6-foot-9 forward from Angola, was cleared by the NCAA before tip to play for Kansas. The five-star prospect graduated high school last month and played 4 minutes on Saturday.
PRESTON STILL WAITS
Another five-star prospect, Billy Preston, remains sidelined while Kansas looks into the ownership of a car he was driving during an accident last fall. The freshman has not played this season.
STOKES IN A BOOT
Kansas State guard Kamau Stokes, the Wildcats’ third-leading scorer, missed his second straight game with a left foot injury. He was wearing a walking boot and it remains unclear when he will be back.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas State has lost nail-biters in its last two trips to the Phog. Last year, it was a missed traveling call on the Jayhawks’ Mykhailiuk that cost them a win over the Wildcats’ biggest rival.
Kansas also got 11 points from Mykhailiuk and 10 from Vick, and that balanced scoring was important as the Jayhawks played with essentially a six-man rotation. Three others combined for 12 minutes.
UP NEXT
Kansas State faces No. 9 Oklahoma on Tuesday night.
Kansas visits No. 2 West Virginia on Monday night.
— Associated Press —
ST. JOSEPH – For the second-straight game, the Missouri Western women’s basketball team (10-7, 3-5 MIAA) fell in heartbreaking fashion. Missouri Western fought back from a 14-point second half deficit before falling 86-82 in two overtimes to Southwest Baptist (10-6, 2-5 MIAA), Monday night.
