Jayhawks Dismantle K-State

The Jayhawks needed a win over first-place Kansas State to maintain any kind of chance at keeping the streak alive. They delivered in a big way on Big Monday in Lawrence.

Things didn't look quite so good early. The Jayhawks looked a bit off, missing their first seven shots from the floor. Fortunately they were taking care of the ball and defending, so KSU was only able to build a 5-0 lead before Bill Self called a timeout.

From there, the two teams were neck and neck for much of the first half. Mitch Lightfoot came up big, at one point scoring five straight, and Kansas generally held a small lead, though they weren't able to put the Wildcats away early. Devon Dotson converted a three point play with just under a minute to go to make it a 34-27 game heading into the locker room.

The second half was all Jayhawks. Dotson and Dedric Lawson were the big time performers, going for 18 and 16 respectively. The defense stepped up in a big way, holding K-State to just 22 second half points as Kansas cruised to an easy 64-49 victory. KSU shot just 30% from the floor, and 10 of 38 from two (26%).

A road matchup at Gallagher-Iba in Stillwater, traditionally a house of horrors for Self's Jayhawks, awaits on Saturday as KU now has just one game separating them from a share of first place in the conference.