LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kevin McCullar Jr. had 19 points in his Allen Fieldhouse farewell, Hunter Dickinson added 15 points and 20 rebounds, and No. 14 Kansas snapped a two-game skid with a 90-68 blowout of Kansas State on Tuesday night.
Nick Timberlake added 18 points and KJ Adams Jr. had 16 for the Jayhawks (22-8, 10-7 Big 12), who beat the Wildcats at home for the 18th straight time and won their 40th in a row on senior night, a run that stretches back to the 1983-84 season.
Kansas also avenged an overtime loss to Kansas State (17-13, 7-10) earlier this season.
Will McNair had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, but leading scorers Tylor Perry and Cam Carter were shut down. Perry had two points after scoring 26 against the Jayhawks in February, and Carter had three points on 1-of-7 shooting.
Two schools separated by about 80 miles of highway, and who have played 300 times since 1907, naturally harbor a little bit of animosity toward each other. And that was on display during a first half in which they nearly came to blows.
Problem for the Wildcats is they couldn’t do anything with resulting free throws. They were 10 of 21 at the line.
Throw in some sloppy offense — hardly new for a team that ranks 339th in Division I in turnovers per game — and the Wildcats were fortunate to trail the Jayhawks 41-33 as the bitter rivals headed to the halftime locker room.
Kansas quickly stretched the lead to double digits in the second half. And after making one 3-pointer over the first 25 minutes, McCullar and fellow senior Timberlake hit them in quick succession, stretching the lead to 53-38 with 13:30 to go.
The Jayhawks eventually pushed the lead past 20 before the senior night celebration began.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas State’s hopes of an NCAA tourney bid are in peril after a last-second loss to Cincinnati and a lopsided loss to Kansas. The Wildcats desperately need to beat No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday before winning a couple of games in the Big 12 Tournament.
Kansas could give its own NCAA Tournament seeding a big boost by beating top-ranked Houston on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Kansas State wraps up its regular season against the Cyclones.
Kansas visits the Cougars for its regular-season finale.
