STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Bill Self didn’t know exactly how many consecutive shots his team missed to close the first half — it was 19 — but the Kansas coach didn’t panic at halftime, telling his players “the lid will come off” the basket.
It certainly did. No. 6 Kansas shot 70.8% from the field in the second half, helping the Jayhawks overcome a scoreless streak of more than 9 1/2 minutes and beat Oklahoma State 74-63 on Tuesday night in the delayed Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.
David McCormack had 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and Ochai Agbaji scored 16 points for Kansas (12-1), which made seven straight shots during a 20-8 run early in the second half that put the Jayhawks — who were tied 29-29 at halftime — back ahead by double digits.
Oklahoma State (7-5) came no closer than six points the rest of the way. When the Cowboys closed within 63-57 on a basket by Isaac Likekele with 6:14 left, Christian Braun began a 9-0 run for Kansas with a pair of baskets. Braun finished with 15 points.
“To win a game on the road and miss 19 straight shots, that’s not going to happen very often,” Self said. “Our shot selection wasn’t great the first half. … The second half, I thought we did a better job. We didn’t get to the free-throw line, but we did a better job of at least driving some in the second half.”
Kansas won its eighth straight game and its 31st consecutive conference opener, a run that began in the 1991-92 season, when the Jayhawks played in the Big 8 Conference. The Jayhawks are 12-1 for the ninth time in Self’s 19 seasons and now lead their series against Oklahoma State, Self’s alma mater, by a 120-60 margin.
Likekele led Oklahoma State with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Oklahoma State hadn’t played since losing to Houston on Dec. 18 due to scheduling issues stemming from COVID-19. The Cowboys had a game against Southern California canceled and their previously scheduled Big 12 opener against Texas Tech postponed. Kansas’ scheduled league opener on New Year’s Day against TCU also was postponed.