LAWRENCE, Kan. — Inbound that ball successfully, and Kansas is well on its way to a victory.
This is with about seven seconds remaining in the first overtime period Saturday, at home against Houston. This is with the Jayhawks leading 79-76, and the Cougars trying desperately to complete a late comeback without any sizable margin for error.
And then not only did Houston’s pressure force a turnover, as KU guard Zeke Mayo failed to complete a pass to one of his teammates, but the Cougars quickly pounced on the late change in possession and hit a 3-point shot that tied the score at 79-79 to send the game to double overtime.
It wasn’t the only time No. 11 Kansas had an opportunity to close out a win inside Allen Fieldhouse against No. 5 Houston. The Jayhawks also led in the final minute of regulation, too, before turning the ball over and later watching the Cougars tie the score at 66-66 to force overtime. But given the chance to make up for not making the necessary plays at the end of the second half, Kansas came up short again and went on to lose 92-86.
“It’s like a gut punch, and it feels terrible,” Kansas center Hunter Dickinson said. “It feels like we just went to battle for however long, however many minutes we were out there, and just — we did everything we were supposed to do to win but just in the end didn’t make the right plays to finish it out.”
Kansas finished the game with 12 turnovers. Houston scored 17 points off of them, and the Cougars only allowed eight points off of their five turnovers. The Jayhawks ended up shooting 17-for-30 on free throws, 56.7%, as they failed to take advantage of their visitor shooting 14-for-25, 56%, from the free-throw line. Execute in the way Kansas has shown itself capable of, and coach Bill Self’s squad is the one that’s celebrating a victory Saturday.
Instead, Kansas (14-5, 5-3 in Big 12), again without forward KJ Adams due to injury, finds itself in a more than just challenging situation when it comes to the Big 12 Conference race. Houston (16-3, 8-0 in Big 12) is a full three games clear of the Jayhawks. This was an opportunity to make up ground on the Cougars, and it was squandered.
For the second time this season, Kansas lost a game at home that it had its chances to win. This one, because of the way it ended, likely will sting that much more. While the Jayhawks can boast of a roster with so much talent, and so much experience, that combined with the crowd inside Allen Fieldhouse wasn’t enough against a Houston team that has the same kind of aspirations this season the Jayhawks do.
“I feel like the way they pressured the ball, the way they guarded it, just — we didn’t get open in time,” KU guard Rylan Griffen said, assessing why his Jayhawks struggled with some inbounds situations against Houston.
“And that’s really what happened right there.”
Houston vs. Kansas highlights
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on X at @JordanGuskey.