Kansas basketball cruises past K-State as Jayhawks split 2024 Sunflower Showdown

Coming off consecutive losses to BYU and Baylor, the No. 14 Kansas basketball team avenged itself with a 90-68 blowout victory over in-state rival K-State on senior night. In classic Bill Self fashion, he rebounded from a tough stretch to tie the Jayhawks' highest point total in conference play.

The Wildcats took the lead early on, but Kansas began pulling away in the first half and never looked back. They led 41-33 at the break and by 28 points at one point in the second half. A 49-point second half propelled the Jayhawks to a 22-point victory.

Senior walk-on Michael Jankovich got the start along with Nick Timberlake in honor of their senior night, while Johnny Furphy and KJ Adams played started minutes off the bench. "Jank" played the opening two minutes, racking up two fouls and having a 3-point attempt blocked. He would later hit one of two free throw attempts to avoid laying a goose egg in the scoring column.

Kevin McCullar led the team with 19 points and three steals. Nick Timberlake was hot all night, sinking 4-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc and dropping 18. Hunter Dickinson had an off-shooting night but still grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked five shots for his 16th double-double of the campaign.

K-State shot a decent percentage from the field, but the difference-maker was their effort from the charity stripe. The Jayhawks shot an impressive 28-for-31 and the Wildcats finished under 50% at 10-for-21. Kansas only shot 13 threes but hit six of those attempts.

Kansas advanced to 10-7 in conference play and will close out the regular season with a road game in Fertitta Center against No. 1 Houston this weekend. It will be the most difficult game of the year for Coach Self and Co., but there are many positives to take away with Kevin McCullar back from injury and the impressive offense the team put on display tonight.