Kansas basketball beats Houston in battle of top-10 Big 12 programs

LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball’s 2023-24 season continued Saturday with a 78-65 win at home against Big 12 Conference foe Houston.

Here are a few takeaways from what’s arguably the best win for the No. 9 Jayhawks (18-4, 6-3 in Big 12) this year, at the expense of No. 4 Houston (19-3, 6-3 in Big 12):

Kevin McCullar Jr. returns for Kansas basketball

For the first time this season, just a handful of days before Kansas faced Houston, the Jayhawks were without graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. — who has been dealing with what coach Bill Self has described as a bone bruise. He missed his team’s win at home against Oklahoma State. But McCullar’s absence didn’t extend to two games as he returned to action in the starting lineup for the top-10 matchup.

McCullar made his presence felt early with a 3-pointer that put the Jayhawks up 9-4 during what was a dominating first half for him and his teammates. He went on to finish with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists — albeit with five turnovers. It’s another quality performance for a player who should be an All-Big 12 honoree at season’s end.

Shot-making disparity looms large

Kansas finished the first half shooting 17-for-25 (68%) from the field, 4-for-8 (50%) from behind the arc and 5-for-8 (62.5%) from the free-throw line. Houston finished the first half shooting 10-for-32 (31.3%) from the field, 3-for-13 (23.1%) from behind the arc and 5-for-7 (71.4%) from the free-throw line. And Houston didn’t do well enough on offense or defense in the second half to close the gap as much as it needed.

Kansas finished the game 31-for-45 (68.9%) from the field, 6-for-13 (46.2%) from behind the arc and 10-for-15 (66.7%) from the free-throw line. Houston finished 25-for-69 (36.2%) from the field, 9-for-29 (31%) from behind the arc and 6-for-10 (60%) from the free-throw line. The Cougars finishing plus-15 in turnover differential didn’t help nearly as much as it should have, especially because the Jayhawks were able to finish plus-16 in rebounding margin.

Kansas basketball once again shows it can contend for Big 12, national titles

People already knew about McCullar and senior center Hunter Dickinson coming into the season. The same could be said for junior forward KJ Adams Jr. and redshirt senior guard Dajuan Harris Jr.

But Johnny Furphy has burst onto the scene as a freshman guard over recent weeks, and if he can continue to put together performances like this one — 17-points, eight rebounds, two assists — it would be tough for those following Kansas to say anything other than the Jayhawks are in contention for Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles and a national championship.

Kansas can help itself a great deal by putting together more quality wins on the road during Big 12 play. That’s not just to help its place in the Big 12 standings or NCAA Tournament resume, but to help sustain momentum. But the potential for the Jayhawks to do so is there, especially considering their worst margin of defeat in a Big 12 road game is six points.

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball notches big win over Houston in Big 12 matchup