LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas, which pounded rival Missouri of the SEC by 37 points in its last game, found itself trailing mid-major Stephen F. Austin by one point with 12 1/2 minutes left in Saturday’s nonconference clash at Allen Fieldhouse.
Looking like a team ripe for a huge letdown at the end of finals week, the Jayhawks, who led by nine points with 7 minutes, 30 seconds to play but by just four points with 5 1/2 minutes left and one point at 3:22, managed to come away with an 80-72 victory before 16,300 fans in KU’s tradition-rich building.
Christian Braun scored 21 points, Ochai Agbaji 18, Remy Martin 15 and Jalen Wilson 10 for KU (9-1), which won its fifth straight game since a loss to Dayton in the semifinals of the ESPN Events Invitational on Nov. 26 in Florida.
Senior forward Gavin Kensmil flirted with a triple-double (16 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists) for Stephen F. Austin (8-4), a team coached by former KU video coordinator Kyle Keller.
Former KU guard Latrell Jossell had nine points for the Lumberjacks. Point guard David Kachelries had 18 points and five assists.
The Lumberjacks, who hit 46.7% of their shots from the field in the first half, one in which KU big man David McCormack played just two minutes after picking up two early fouls, trailed KU 38-31 at the break.
KU led 19-7 early behind 11 early points from Agbaji. However SFA, which scored a batch of inside points led 29-27 with four minutes left in the half.
An 11-2 run helped KU regain a seven-point lead at halftime.
Wilson, who had four of KU’s final 11 points in the half, scored eight the first 20 minutes, as did Braun. Calvin Solomon, Kensmil and Sadaidriene Hall had eight apiece for SFA.
KU opened a nine-point lead at 45-36 three minutes into the final half. SFA, though, immediately tied the game sparked by three-pointers by Kachelries and Jossell.
KU led 65-56 with 7:30 left, but SFA cut the gap to 67-66 at 3:55. The Jayhawks never lost the lead down the stretch.
