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KU 64, OSU 49

The Kansas Jayhawks beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys going away Monday night in an "ugly" game by the score of 64-49. The Jayhawks improved their record to 18-6 and 9-2 in conference play.

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STILLWATER, Okla. — Kansas did not make a jump shot for the entire first half against Oklahoma State Monday night. The Jayhawks committed 15 turnovers in the half and shot 27.3 percent.

In a game that was by no means pretty, they still found a way to win.

It took Kansas 30 minutes to find its offensive rhythm, but it still defeated Oklahoma State 64-49.

Kansas trailed by two points midway through the second half, but went on a 24-7 run to finish the game. Kansas still committed 20 turnovers.

“It was ugly ball there for a while,” Kansas coach Bill Self said, “but this team needs to learn to win that way. I thought the last 10 minutes we played pretty well.”

The Jayhawks calmed down eventually, connecting on nearly 50 percent of their shots in the second half and only committing five turnovers.

Early Kansas points came via layups or dunks, but those didn’t come often. The teams went into halftime tied at 23 after connecting on only 13 shots combined.

Kansas failed to connect on a jump shot until freshman guard Brandon Rush hit a jumper from the right corner with less than 14 minutes to play.

“This was a game where we just weren’t clicking offensively,” freshman forward Julian Wright said. “We knew had to find a way.”

Kansas found a way to win, much to the credit of sophomore guard Russell Robinson. Although Robinson made only 1-of-8 attempts, his one made basket was pivotal. Robinson made a three-pointer that put the Jayhawks up 43-42. Kansas held onto the lead for the remainder of the game.

“We shouldn’t look at percentages,” Self said. “We should look at when he makes shots, because he makes big shots and that was the biggest shot of the game.”

Freshman guard Mario Chalmers, who scored a team-high 13 points, said Robinson’s shot energized Kansas.

Kansas made an effort to get the ball inside after that point, especially to sophomore forward Sasha Kaun, who banked in a key left-handed hook shot that extended the Kansas lead to seven.

Wright solidified the victory with behind-the-back passes that resulted in easy buckets.

“I love playing with Julian,” Kaun said. “He has such a great feel of when to pass where to pass. He sees really well.”

Despite the offensive struggles, four Jayhawks reached double figures in a balanced scoring output.

The lack of offensive continuity during the first half was mirrored by the game clock, which malfunctioned on three separate occasions.

“We knew sooner or later we were going to figure it out,” Robinson said. “We did that late in the second half when we started to attack the basket.”

The victory was Kansas’ eighth straight, coming in its first game since breaking into the national rankings at No. 22. Kansas improved to 5-1 on the road.

Oklahoma State (13-12, 3-8 Big 12 Conference)

FG FT Pts

Mario Boggan 5-11 3-3 13

Marcus Dove 0-1 0-0 0

Kenny Cooper 0-1 0-0 0

Jamaal Brown 1-8 0-0 2

JamesOn Curry 5-13 4-7 15

Byron Eaton 0-3 1-2 1

Terrel Harris 2-2 3-4 7

David Monds 2-5 0-0 4

Torre Johnson 3-4 1-2 7

Totals 18-48 12-18 49

No. 22 Kansas (18-6, 9-2 Big 12)

FG FT Pts

Julian Wright 5-9 2-2 12

Sasha Kaun 5-7 2-6 12

Russell Robinson 1-8 3-6 6

Mario Chalmers 3-11 7-8 13

Brandon Rush 6-9 0-0 12

Jeff Hawkins 0-2 0-0 0

Jeremy Case 1-1 0-0 2

Darnell Jackson 0-3 0-0 0

CJ Giles 1-5 2-2 4

Christian Moody 0-0 3-4 3

Totals 22-55 19-28 64