Kansas basketball prevails against Kansas City at home, capturing the Jayhawks’ latest win

LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball kept its momentum going with an 88-69 win Tuesday at home against Kansas City.

Here are some takeaways from how the No. 3 Jayhawks (8-1) captured their victory against the Roos (3-6):

Bill Self is still looking to see more from his bench

Don’t let the 19-point win deceive you, there were times when Kansas City made Kansas sweat inside Allen Fieldhouse. Despite leading by as many as 22 points in the second half, at a timeout with a little less than four minutes left the Jayhawks led by just eight points — 75-67. Part of why the Roos kept the game close was due to Kansas’ bench not performing at the level head coach Bill Self would like just yet.

Tuesday was not the first time Self has highlighted a need to develop players deep in the rotation. It likely won’t be the last. But Self expressed confidence that, by the time Big 12 Conference play starts in January, those players will look much different than they do now.

However tired KJ Adams Jr. is, he’s continued to persevere

Kansas junior forward KJ Adams Jr. has continued to be a force for the Jayhawks, even though he’s had to deal with so much personally in recent days. Self described Adams as their player of the game Tuesday, after he finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the victory.

Although he would admit the fatigue can hit him when he gets home, that energy from his teammates and more keeps Adams going. On Tuesday, on a night that Self said Adams was their best player in transition, Adams collected 16 of his points and six of his rebounds in the second half.

“I think they just started guarding Kevin (McCullar Jr.) and (Hunter Dickinson) a little tighter and it opened up a bunch of shots for me,” Adams said. “When you have good players like that, a lot of openings come.”

McCullar, a graduate senior guard, finished with 25 points, six rebounds and five assists. Dickinson, a senior center, finished with a 14-point and 12-rebound double-double. They were all joined in double figures scoring by freshman guard Johnny Furphy, who finished with 10 points.

Johnny Furphy impressed in the second half

Self acknowledged Kansas didn’t play with the same level of energy it did when it went up against UConn. He added there wasn’t the same level of energy from the fans either. But the Jayhawks still closed the game out well, and a key part of that was the way Furphy played.

Adams explained that Furphy was down on himself, because Furphy wasn’t pleased with how he’d played in the first half. So, Adams was glad to see Furphy improve in the second half. All 10 of Furphy’s points came in the second half, and he was at his best during the final stretch of the game.

“That’s what we’re going to need from him,” McCullar said. “We have all the confidence in the world in Johnny. He’s a high IQ player. He does a little bit of everything. And we knew he was going to come along, and at the end of the game, kept his head in it, knocked down some huge shots, got out in transition, got some stops and played defense well, too. So, we’re going to need that.”

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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 prevails with win at home against Kansas City