Tre White poured in a season-high 23 points as the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawksrebounded from a surprising loss with a 69-56 victory over No. 5 Houston Cougars on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Freshman standout Darryn Peterson added 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes for Kansas (21-7, 11-4 Big 12 Conference). The Jayhawks had dropped six spots in this week’s AP Top 25 following an 84-68 home loss Saturday to unranked Cincinnati Bearcats.
Bryson Tiller recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while adding three blocks, helping Kansas hand Houston (23-5, 11-4) its third consecutive defeat — all coming against top-15 opponents. Melvin Council Jr. chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Kingston Flemings led Houston with 16 points on 6-of-18 shooting. The Cougars, who had not lost three straight games since January 2017, struggled offensively, shooting 32% from the field and just 5-of-24 (21%) from 3-point range.
Kansas continued its dominance at Allen Fieldhouse, where it has not lost consecutive home games since the 1988-89 season — the first year under coach Roy Williams. The Jayhawks improved to 52-1 on ESPN Big Monday at home, including a 41-0 mark under current head coach Bill Self. Two weeks ago, Kansas knocked off then-No. 1 Arizona Wildcats at The Phog.
After missing nine of their first 10 shots and going more than eight minutes without a field goal, the Jayhawks closed the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 31-27 lead into the break. Kansas seized control early in the second half with a decisive 12-0 run, turning a two-point edge into a 49-35 advantage at the under-12 timeout. The lead grew to 20 before Houston responded with a brief 7-0 spurt, but the Cougars never trimmed the deficit to fewer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Up Next
Kansas travels to face No. 2 Arizona on Saturday.
