When the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks got to welcome the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats inside Allen Fieldhouse earlier this month, Bill Self’s squad did everything they had to to scrap an 82-78 win over the then-undefeated Wildcats.
When the two sides met again on Saturday afternoon, things were completely different. Kansas was outrebounded by a monster 48-26 margin, along with 21 fouls that allowed Arizona 34 chances at the stripe, in a reverse fixture that saw Arizona win 84-61.
“I just thought they were so, so aggressive, and I thought that we played really soft. Foul problems don't help, but still, though we played soft,” quoted Self following the loss.
Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona squad fought for 14 offensive rebounds, converting on 12 second-chance points that continually kept the Jayhawks at arm's length.
In the first half, it was a matter of not being able to hit quality shots. Kansas finished with a paltry 29% from the field, with Darryn Peterson being the only player to hit 10+ points for Kansas, albeit on 12 shots.
Kansas entered the halftime break down 39-28, yet in the second half, things did greatly improve for a decent stretch.
An open door gets slammed shut
Through the first 7:35 of the final 20 minutes, Kansas went on a 19-9 run that trimmed Arizona’s lead to just two and quieted a jam-packed McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. However, an Ivan Kharchenkov three-pointer ceased that run and instead broke the dam that allowed Arizona to finish the game on a startling 32-14 run that sent daggers into the hearts of Jayhawks supporters throughout.
“When we played them in our place, you know, obviously, home courts make a big difference, but we played them at our place, we made them not play great. It kind of uglied the game up, and there was nothing that uglied it up tonight,” quoted Self as the loss to Arizona gifted the Wildcats at least a share in the Big 12 regular-season title.
Leading the game for the Jayhawks was the former five-star Peterson, who finished the game with 21 points, hitting on 5-10 from the field in the second half.
In the game, Kansas sank just 33.8% of its shots, with 50 points coming from the trio of Tre White, Melvin Council Jr., and Peterson. The three went 18-41 from the field.
Up next for Kansas is another away day in Arizona, yet this one sees the Jayhawks take on Arizona State in the penultimate matchup of the season for Self and Co.
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