No. 9 Kansas has appeared vulnerable on the road this season, but the Jayhawks return to Allen Fieldhouse, where they are 14-0 this season, for a matchup with Texas Saturday evening in Lawrence, Kan.
The Jayhawks (20-6, 8-5 Big 12) defeated then-No. 25 Oklahoma 67-57 on Feb. 17 to snap a four-game road losing streak. Texas held off Kansas State 62-56 in its last game Monday after suffering a 21-point loss at Houston two days prior.
Hunter Dickinson had 20 points and 16 rebounds against Oklahoma, and Kevin McCullar had 10 points and eight rebounds in his return from a knee injury. McCullar was back after missing two games, including a 79-50 loss to Texas Tech on Feb. 12.
“I thought he was definitely out of sorts, out of rhythm,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of McCullar. “But he played within himself. We don’t win the game unless he plays.”
Getting McCullar healthy has been important for Kansas, which has a relatively short bench with him. Getting Johnny Furphy to step up has been even more important. Since he was inserted into the lineup for the Jayhawks’ third conference game Jan. 13, Furphy has averaged 13.1 points per game in 11 games.
Against Cincinnati Jan. 22, Furphy recorded his first career double-double with career highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds. He did it with his parents in the crowd all the way from Australia.
“This was their first home game,” Furphy said of his parents, “so I was happy they could experience that. I’ve been telling them a lot about Allen Fieldhouse. I’m happy they got to see a win.”
If Furphy can keep up his production, Kansas fans likely will see many more.
Texas (17-9, 6-7) appears to be in good shape to reach the NCAA Tournament, but a road win over a ranked team like Kansas would go a long way toward making that a certainty.
Dylan Disu had a game-high 20 points in the Longhorns’ victory over K-State. Disu hit 5 of 11 field goals and a career-best 10 of 11 free throws while adding eight rebounds and three steals, two assists and one block in 30 minutes.
The Longhorns led by 12 with 3:21 to play before surrendering a 10-2 K-State run that closed the deficit to 56-52 with 50 seconds left. But Texas was able to close out the win.
“Every guy who played tonight made a great contribution to our team,” head coach Rodney Terry said. “I thought this was one of our better team wins this year.
Max Abmas became the 12th player in NCAA Division I men’s history to reach the 3,000-point milestone. He spent the first four years of his career at Oral Roberts.
“I think it’s something I’ll appreciate more when I’m done playing,” Abmas said. “The important thing is that we got the win tonight and protected the home court.”
Disu (17.1 per game) and Abmas (16.9) are Texas’ top scorers, while McCullar (19.0) and Dickinson (18.2) provide a one-two punch for Kansas.
–Field Level Media