By Jordan Coburn
Kansas men’s basketball ended its Senior Day with a 104-85 win against Kansas State on Saturday afternoon.
After having four players score double figures, the Jayhawks have now won 20 straight Sunflower Showdown matchups against the Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I don’t know that you always have to have all five playing well,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “But you need to have all five playing together when you’re out there. Today we got production from four guys.”
Kansas freshman guard Darryn Peterson led all scorers with 27 points.
Kansas senior guard Tre White added 23 points and a double-double, grabbing 11 rebounds, while also nailing five 3-pointers.
“It was good, my teammates always tell me to shoot it when I’m open,” White said, when asked how his last game in Lawrence felt. “Tonight I had [the] point guard get into the paint and get some easy looks for me, and I got going early.”
The Jayhawks’ starting lineup included White, Melvin Council Jr., Wilder Evers, Jayden Dawson and Justin Cross. Nginyu “Gee” Ngala also played early, as it was each of these players’ last home game in a Kansas uniform.
The game was initially close with no significant runs.
Kansas State got into foul trouble early, having seven team fouls a little over five minutes into the game. After forcing a turnover, Peterson lobbed an alley-oop to White, forcing the Wildcats to take a timeout with 12:06 remaining.
Kansas went on a run, which extended to 9-0, following another timeout by the Wildcats after sophomore forward Flory Bidunga jammed the basketball into the rim.
At the end of the second half, the Jayhawks began to pick up their pace of play and added a few more dunks, with one coming from freshman guard Kohl Rosario and the other from Bidunga, before a media timeout.
Kansas made five 3-pointers in the first half and entered halftime leading the Wildcats 46-33.
Despite Kansas State going on a 6-0 run at the beginning of the second half, the Jayhawks still played fast and physical, making a series of plays to slow down the Wildcats momentum.
While the Wildcats went on a scoring drought, the Jayhawks went on another big run and shot perfectly from the field, making their last 11 field goals midway through the second half.
Council made his first 3-pointer, helping the Jayhawks continue their red-hot streak of making field goals, forcing Kansas State to call another timeout with 8:12 left in the game.
With under five minutes left in the game, the Jayhawks continued to increase their lead, prompting the crowd to chant freshman center Paul Mbiya’s name after he slammed two back-to-back dunks and also threw an assist that led to a Peterson dunk.
Kansas reached 100 points after Evers drained a 3-pointer with a little over three minutes left.
The Jayhawks were ahead by double digits at the end of the second half and finished the game as they started, with all their seniors playing in the final moments.
Kansas’ other players to score double figures were Council (17) and Bidunga (13).
Kansas State’s players who scored double figures include junior guard PJ Haggerty and senior guard Nate Johnson (21), senior wing Khamari McGriff (17) and freshman wing Andrej Kostic (11).
The Jayhawks (22-9, 12-6 Big 12) have a double bye in the Big 12 tournament and will play their next game on Thursday, March 12, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
This article was edited by sports writing editor Eric Lucio. Contact him at ericlucio12@ku.edu for feedback or errors.