No. 14 Kansas holds on to dispatch No. 13 BYU
Bryson Tiller scored 21 points as No. 14 Kansas held on for a 90-82 win over No. 13 BYU in a Big 12 showdown on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.
Darryn Peterson scored 18 points and Flory Bidunga added 16 points for Kansas. Melvin Council Jr. contributed 15 points and Tre White chipped in 12 points as the Jayhawks (16-5, 6-2 Big 12) notched their fifth straight win.
Richie Saunders scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for BYU (17-4, 5-3). Robert Wright III tallied 18 points and AJ Dybantsa pitched in 17 points for the Cougars who have lost three of their last four games.
Kansas shot 57.1% from the field, its second-best success rate of the season. The Jayhawks made 11 of 22 from 3-point range.
BYU was just 11 of 32 from behind the arc and connected on 45.5% overall.
Peterson filled it up in the early going, but he only played four-second half minutes. His 15-foot jumper staked the Jayhawks to a 15-10 lead. He scored nine of Kansas' points during that stretch.
White's runner in the lane led to a three-point play and the Jayhawks went up 25-14 with 11:12 left in the half. Peterson canned another three and Kansas led 28-14 midway through the first half.
Back-to-back threes from Tiller extended Kansas' lead to 45-24 with 3:31 left. The Jayhawks shot 64.3% (18 of 28) in the first half, 75% from three-point range (9 of 12) and took a 53-33 lead at the break. BYU connected on 42.4% of its field goal attempts (14 of 33) and 25% of its shots from beyond the arc (4 of 16).
The Cougars offense got going in the second half. Saunders' lefty dunk, four-point play and Dybantsa's trey highlighted a 9-2 BYU run that cut the Kansas lead to 60-46 with 15:16 to play.
An 11-2 BYU run cut the Kansas' lead to 80-71 on a Saunders' three with 4:27 left. Khadim Mboup nailed his first three of the season and BYU was within 82-74.
Dybantsa's layup cut the Jayhawks edge to 82-76. The Cougars' 18-4 run pulled them within 82-78 on Wright's free throws. But Council's off-balance runner gave the Jayhawks breathing room at 84-78 with one minute to play.
Jamari McDowell made two free throws and dunks from Bidunga and White in the closing minute helped Kansas secure the win.