Freshman Johnny Furphy recorded his first career double-double as No. 7 Kansas held off Cincinnati for a 74-69 victory on Monday night in Lawrence, Kan.
Furphy had career highs in points and rebounds with 23 and 11, respectively, for the Jayhawks (16-3, 4-2 Big 12), who got 72 of their 74 points from the starting five. Elmarko Jackson’s two free throws with 10 seconds left were Kansas’ only bench points.
Kevin McCullar Jr. added 20 points, KJ Adams Jr. finished with 11 and Hunter Dickinson paired 10 with six boards for the Jayhawks.
The Bearcats (13-6, 2-4) were ice cold from the field in the second half despite hitting six of their last seven attempts. They shot just 33.3 percent overall following the break.
Dan Skillings Jr. paced Cincinnati with 16 points, five rebounds and two steals. John Newman III had 11 points, and Jizzle James went for 10.
Kansas struggled to put the Bearcats away in the second half. The Jayhawks never trailed following intermission, but they also never led by double digits until Furphy hit a 3-pointer with 2:02 left to make it 67-57.
Cincinnati had a chance to make a run with 10:02 left in the game, as Dickinson picked up his fourth foul with the Jayhawks up 53-45. But the Bearcats could not take advantage. When Dickinson returned with 5:23 left, the Jayhawks still led, 59-52.
After Cincinnati’s Viktor Lakhin opened the game with a layup, Kansas scored 19 of the next 24 points to build a 19-7 cushion with 13:02 remaining in the first half. McCullar and Furphy each hit a 3-pointer during that outburst.
The Bearcats later used a 7-0 spurt to pull within 24-23, and a 10-3 run near the end of the half put them up 35-33 following a free throw from Skillings.
However, the teams went into the break tied at 35.
Skillings led all first-half scorers with 14 points. Dickinson and Furphy each netted 10 for the Jayhawks.
–Field Level Media