LAWRENCE, Kan. — No. 6 Kansas, which trailed unranked Oklahoma by two points at halftime, rallied after a sloppy start and beat the Sooners, 63-59, on Saturday and avoided losing back-to-back games in Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since the 1988-89 season.
The Jayhawks (10-2, 4-1 Big 12), who were crushed by No. 4 Texas, 84-59, last Saturday in KU’s tradition-rich building, overcame a first half in which they committed 10 first-half turnovers (six by Jalen Wilson) and trailed 33-31 at the break.
David McCormack scored 17 points and Ochai Agbaji 14 as KU handed Oklahoma (6-4, 2-3) its 20th straight loss in Allen Fieldhouse.
McCormack hit an inside shot and Wilson drained a 3-pointer to erase a 57-56 deficit and give KU a 61-57 lead at 1:24. OU scored to make it 61-59 with 27.3 seconds remaining. McCormack iced the game by scoring again at 12.8 seconds.
Austin Reaves scored 20 points and De’Vion Harmon nine for the Sooners, who were without senior starting forward Brady Manek, the team’s second-leading scorer. Manek missed the first game of his career because of COVID-19 protocol. Reserve forward Jalen Hill was also held out because of COVID-19 protocol.
Wilson, who had seven turnovers, contributed 11 rebounds, while Christian Braun had nine boards for the Jayhawks, who actually lost four in a row at home in 1988-89, Roy Williams’ first season as KU coach. Those home defeats came to Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.
Agbaji hit a pair of 3s and Mitch Lightfoot scored inside as KU opened a seven point lead, 46-39, at 14:11. However, the KU lead stood at just one point, 48-47, with 7:18 to play.
KU upped its lead back to five at 54-49 with 5:01 left, however Alondes Williams and Umoja Gibson hit back-to-back 3s and OU led 55-54 at 3:40.
Reaves scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Harmon added nine as OU took a 33-31 lead into halftime. KU, which was 2 of 10 from three at halftime, received eight points from McCormack and six from Agbaji in the half.
However, Wilson had two points and six turnovers. Four Jayhawks had one turnover apiece in the half.
Reeves beat the halftime buzzer, scoring on a layup after a Tyon Grant-Foster turnover to give OU the lead at the half.
It was a half of streaks. OU led 15-9, then trailed 20-15 after a 11-0 KU run. OU had a 7-0 run followed by a 7-0 KU run and the Jayhawks led 27-22 at the 7-minute mark.
Marcus Garrett (seven points, five rebounds, four assists) was back in the lineup for KU on Saturday after missing the Texas game because of concussion-like symptoms. He’d been whacked in the head by Texas’ Jericho Sims in the loss to the Longhorns last Saturday Also, Agbaji, who tweaked a hamstring on Monday, but still scored 19 points in Tuesday’s 29-point win at TCU, did not seem affected on Saturday.
KU is set to meet Oklahoma State at 7 p.m., Tuesday, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.
