Kansas Wins The First Of A Pair Of Sunflower State Challenges Against K-State

LAWRENCE - When a rivalry that is older than time comes to Allen Fieldhouse, the atmosphere around two hungry teams dueling it out. The Wildcats of Kansas State University came in as underdogs after dropping their last four matches in conference play. The Jayhawks also came in reeling from a loss on Wednesday night against #2 Iowa State, their second conference loss. The goal of staying in the top 10 in the AP poll had one clear requirement: beat K-State. 

Kansas has struggled to come out flat in a few of its starts this year. In its last loss in Allen Fieldhouse, against the Mountaineers of West Virginia, Kansas played some of its worst basketball in the first half and spent the remainder of the time chipping away at the deficit. Unable to convert the comeback, the notion of starting fast remained evident.

Kansas achieved its goal. Seven points came out of the gate with a Zeke Mayo three paired up with a strong paint basket for both Kansas big men, Hunter Dickinson and Flory Bidunga. A timeout only two minutes into the game from Kansas State Head Coach Jerome Tang signaled a desperation to shift the pendulum of momentum away from the home crowd.

Unfortunately for him, it did not work. Almost like a twin, the next two minutes played out similarly to the first two. Zeke Mayo electrified the crowd with a pair of three-pointers. The combination of that and a free throw capped off a 14-0 run to start the game. Following a second timeout from Tang, K-State started to get back on track, finally scoring and exchanging punches with Kansas. K-State got a strong effort from David N’Guessan and Coleman Hawkins who each grabbed seven points which catapulted them back into contention. As the athletes headed back to their respective locker rooms, K-State trailed by ten after surrendering a fourteen-zero run to start the game. 

Out of the locker room, there was a clear leader in pushing the gas down once again and it was Hunter Dickinson. #1 for KU came out fired up blocking and rebounding with an extra hint of effort, but also came out an effective scorer, scoring four early buckets, before Tang was forced to burn another timeout. 

Kansas State stayed around for the remainder of the game, cutting down Kansas’ lead to single digits on a few occasions, but the relentless pressure and outstanding offensive performance of KU helped them stay ahead. Kansas outlasted K-state for another conference win to get back in that column after falling on Wednesday. They totaled 84 compared to K-State’s 74. Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson finished off the afternoon with twenty-five points. His offensive counterpart Zeke Mayo finished right behind him with twenty-four. 

Up next for Kansas State is another top-25 challenger, and another one of the road. They travel to Waco for a matchup with the #25 Baylor Bears on January 22nd. On the other hand, Kansas basketball looks forward to one more tuneup against TCU before their highly anticipated matchup against Houston at home on January 25th.