LAWRENCE, Kan. _ The new No. 1 team in the Associated Press college basketball poll had trouble playing to its ranking for much of Monday night, which didn't seem to matter by the end of the evening.
Big 12 regular-season champion Kansas (27-3, 15-2 Big 12), which ascended to the top spot Monday afternoon for the first time this season committed 11 turnovers and missed seven free throws in 15 tries the first half and trailed by as many as 12 points the second half before rallying to claim a 73-63 victory over Oklahoma in what turned out to be another festive Senior Night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Devonte Graham made three 3-pointers in an astounding 25-6 run that helped KU rally from a 54-42 deficit with 10 minutes, 13 seconds remaining and forge a 67-60 lead with four minutes to play. KU closed the contest on a 31-9 run and had Allen Fieldhouse rocking.
Lagerald Vick added two 3s in the game-breaking surge and Frank Mason, who heard chants of "MVP, MVP" and Josh Jackson had four points apiece.
"How 'bout your Jayhawks. We slept-walked for 32 minutes. We finally woke up," coach Bill Self told the fans after the game. "You saw what the kids can do when their backs are against the wall. We may not always play the best, but there's no team tougher than the University of Kansas."
The Jayhawks, who were tied with the Sooners at 28 at the break and down 54-42 with 10:13 left, secured their seventh straight victory overall, 16th in a row over OU (10-19, 4-13) in Lawrence and 34th consecutive victory in a home finale.
That includes 33 Senior Days dating back to the 1983-84 contest. KU had no seniors on the roster in 2006-07.
Seniors Mason (23 points), Landen Lucas (8 points, 8 rebounds) and Tyler Self (no points, 3 minutes), who were introduced with their parents and accorded standing ovations before the game, were to deliver individual speeches after the contest per KU tradition. Graham finished with 16 points and Jackson 11 points and 12 boards.
KU wound up hitting 12 of 20 free throws and 50 percent of its shots to OU's 34.9 percent. Kameron McGusty had 14 for the Sooners.
Self, a fifth-year non-scholarship player, started his first game as a Jayhawk. He played the first 3 minutes, 27 seconds, leaving with KU trailing 7-0. The 6-foot-2 Self had one foul, but no other stats in that early stint. Mason was 0 for 4 from the field in that stretch.
The first half was mighty ugly. KU shot 34.8 percent and committed an unsightly 11 turnovers, including five by Josh Jackson and three by Mason.
Mason had eight points and Graham seven in the half. OU hit 8 of 32 floor shots for an anemic 25 percent. The Sooners did drill 10 of 11 free throw tries while committing eight turnovers.
Down 12-5, KU used an 11-4 run to knot the score at 16 with 9:03 left before half. Graham hit two free throws, Lucas an inside shot, then two free throws, Lagerald Vick had a 3-pointer and Mason two free throws in the surge. Mason hit back-to-back 3s to give KU a 24-22 lead at 6:31.
Oklahoma came out the second half and used a 21-11 run to build a 49-39 lead with 11:35 to go.
Down 12, the Jayhawks finally responded, slicing the gap to 58-56 at 6:33 following a 14-4 run. Mason scored, Vick hit a three, Jackson slammed off an inbounds pass from Mason and Vick hit another three. Then Lucas and Jackson scored to cut it to one. Graham hit back to back 3s followed by a bucket by Mason and another 3 by Graham.
KU will next meet Oklahoma State at 5 p.m. Saturday in Stillwater.
