Career-high 33 from Wilson helps Jayhawks escape against Thunderbirds

In what is likely to be a common occurrence this season, the Kansas Jayhawks used a dominant performance from junior Jalen Wilson to overcome an upset bid from the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in Allen Fieldhouse on Friday night. The heroics were necessary multiple times in the game, as every time it seemed like the Jayhawks were about to pull away, the Thunderbirds would put together another run to put the game in doubt again.

According to interim coach Norm Roberts, the visitors didn't do anything that they weren't prepared for.

“They played exactly how we thought they were going to play. We just didn’t have good body movement and we talked about that before the game. We had so many ill-advised turnovers that they did nothing to cause. We’ve got to clean up a lot of that.”

Kansas had 14 turnovers on the night, with many of them coming on missed connections for the Jayhawks while throwing lobs into the paint. During the entire first half and multiple large stretches of the second half, the Jayhawks couldn't get out of their own way, and the result was a frenetic pace that favored Southern Utah.

The first half saw the score see-saw back and forth, with each team taking a turn to lead. A 14-9 Kansas lead was erased with a 9-0 run from Southern Utah. The Jayhawks finally took the lead again at 27-26 on a Gradey Dick three-point shot, then they gave up another mini run to go down by four. Through all the disjointed play, the Jayhawks somehow managed to go into the break with a two point lead.

The second half was more of the same, with the teams trading the lead back and forth with each shot for the first nine minutes of the period. And even when Kansas took the lead for good with 11 minutes to play, they weren't ever able to get comfortable, as a lead that got as high as 8 also shrunk to just a single point multiple times in the final ten minutes.

But ultimately, Wilson got just enough help from Dick to put the game away, overcoming multiple uncharacteristic mistakes from players like Dajuan Harris (2 turnovers to just 2 assists) and Kevin McCullar (5 turnovers). 

Wilson ended the game with 33 points and just 6 rebounds. He also led the team with 4 assists. Dick finished with 18 points on 7-14 shooting, including 4-6 from beyond the arc. Wilson and Dick made all 6 of the made 3-point baskets for the Jayhawks, but Kansas only took 15 shots from that range.

Tevian Jones of Southern Utah had 25 points in the loss. Maizen Fausett added 14 points and Harrison Butler added 12.

Kansas is in action next against NC State in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. Their game is scheduled first on the day, tipping off at 11am Central on November 23rd.