Kansas registers 70-56 road victory at K-State

The seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks limited Kansas State to 32.3 percent shooting Monday night and held on to sole possession of the lead in the Big 12 men’s basketball race with a 70-56 road victory.

Guard Svi Mykhailiuk hit five 3-pointers and scored 22 to lead the Jayhawks, who improved to 18-4 and 7-2 in conference.

Coming into their home arena with a chance to tie for the conference lead, the Wildcats lost to the rival Jayhawks for the second time this season and fell to 16-6 and 5-4.

Kansas coach Bill Self pointed out a few statistical oddities in his team’s 40-27 burst to the first-half lead.

“If you’re going to be up 13 on the road, have 12 turnovers and go 6 for 13 from the foul line, you wouldn’t think that would be the case,” Self told the Associated Press. “Somehow we were able to keep the lead and win both halves.”

Wildcats forward Dean Wade had 20 points and eight rebounds but guard Barry Brown, the team’s leading scorer, struggled with 4 for 16 shooting.

Averaging 17.3 points coming in, Brown finished with nine as K-State’s four-game winning streak came to an end.

Kansas beat Kansas State 73-72 in Lawrence on Jan. 3.

“I told the guys we had to play better than we did in Lawrence, because they’re a great road team,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “They have good poise. They understand each other, their roles. I expected them to come at us and they did.”

Kansas guards Devonte’ Graham and Malik Newman both posted double doubles to aid the Jayhawks.

Graham had 16 points and 11 assists. Newman came alive offensively in the second half and finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Big 12 race

Kansas leads at 7-2. Texas Tech, Oklahoma and West Virginia trail at 5-3. Kansas State is 5-4 and Texas 4-4.

Clutch shooting lifts OU past Kansas, 85-80

Christian James and Brady Manek knocked down clutch three pointers in the final 69 seconds Tuesday night as 12th-ranked Oklahoma rallied for an 85-80 victory in Big 12 men’s basketball over No. 5 Kansas.

National player of the year candidate Trae Young, a freshman, assisted on both baskets.

Playing at home before an energized crowd, Oklahoma (15-4, 5-3) led for much of the first half and held a two-point edge at halftime.

But first-place Kansas (16-4, 6-2) started to click after intermission, surging into a 10-point advantage with nine minutes left.

When guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk buried a three pointer with 9:26 remaining, the Jayhawks had a 72-62 lead.

At the end, Kansas seemed to have control when Lagerald Vick followed a Devonte’ Graham miss.

The basket silenced the crowd and put the Jayhawks up 80-77 with 2:33 left.

From there, the Sooners went on an 8-0 run to the final buzzer.

Young hit a couple of free throws and then created plays for James and Manek.

On the first play, Young drove baseline and, from under the goal, he passed outside to James on the wing.

James, who was 0-for-6 from three-point range in his last game, swished the shot with 1:09 remaining to give the Sooners an 82-80 lead.

After Mykhailiuk missed a three on the other end for Kansas, Young got the ball in his hands again, and he punished the visitors.

Dribbling at the top of the three-point circle, Young drove to his right. With his head down, he hooked a no-look pass to Manek on the right wing.

Manek swished it with 27 seconds left for the final points.

Young, who ranks No.1 in the nation in scoring and assists, finished with 26 points and nine assists. James scored 15 points and Manek had 14.

Mykhailiuk scored 24 to lead the Jayhawks, while Malik Newman added 20.

Graham, Kansas’ leading scorer at 18 points per game, had a rough night shooting the ball, hitting only 4 of 19 from the field.

He finished with 11 points and nine assists.

Around the Big 12

Down by 15 points in the second half, 14th-ranked Texas Tech came from behind to stun Oklahoma State, 75-70, in Lubbock…

The conference race has tightened considerably, with Kansas (6-2) leading by a game over Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas State (all 5-3). Texas (4-4) is two games back …