Courtesy of Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Led by 23 points from senior guard Ochai Agbaji and a team season-high 64.1 percent field goal percentage, the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Kansas State Wildcats, 102-83 inside Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening.
No. 5 Kansas improves to 23-4 (12-2 Big 12) this season, giving Kansas its 12th league win for the 22nd consecutive season, dating back to the 2001 season. K-State falls to 14-13 (6-9 Big 12) this year, with the Jayhawks winning their seventh-straight against the Wildcats. KU improved its overall series lead to 203-94 and 52-18 in Allen Fieldhouse.
The 102 points scored against the Wildcats were the most since defeating K-State, 103-68 on Feb. 27, 2002 inside Allen Fieldhouse, while it was the most KU points at home against a conference opponent since defeating Oklahoma, 104-74, in Allen Fieldhouse in 2018.
Agbaji’s 23 points mark his 15th game with 20+ points this season, including the 22nd time in his career. Agbaji has now scored in double-figures in 26-consecutive games, tying Wayne Simien for the longest single-season streak in the Bill Self era. Agbaji was joined in double-figures by junior guard Christian Braun (20 pts.), redshirt-sophomore Jalen Wilson (17 pts.) and super-senior forward Mitch Lightfoot (13 pts.).
As a team, Kansas outshot K-State by hitting 64.1 percent (41-of-64) from the field, which was the highest field goal percentage against a conference opponent since March 14, 2013, when Kansas shot 66.0 percent against Texas Tech.
The Jayhawks were able to take the early lead by capitalizing on three-straight K-State turnovers, which resulted in a 6-0 KU run to make the score 18-13 just over 7 minutes into the game.
Kansas would go on another run in the first half, going on a 7-0 stretch to extend its lead to 40-25 on a 3-pointer from Wilson. Kansas used the run to grab its largest lead of the half at 46-30 with 4:19 remaining in the half.
The Wildcats then spouted off a 9-0 run on three-straight 3-pointers to trim the lead to 46-39 with 2:43 remaining. Kansas would ultimately go into the locker room with a 53-43 lead after the first 20 minutes of play.
Nearly mid-way through the second half, both teams came out firing, as Kansas connected on 7-of-8 from the field over a span of just four minutes, which included five points from both Agbaji and Wilson. The hot hand helped Kansas extend its lead to 77-61 with 11:48 remaining.
The Jayhawks would lead by as many as 27 points at 96-69, in a second half that was fueled by the play of Braun, who scored a team-high 12 second-half points. Agbaji added 10 points in the second half, which helped Kansas secure the 102-83 victory.
Kansas will now hit the road to face No. 10 Baylor, Saturday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. The contest will be televised on ESPN. ESPN College GameDay will originate from Waco, marking the second time this season KU has been featured on the show.
