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Phog Allen Fieldhouse has long been a house of horrors for visitors, especially for unranked ones. but you’ll have to forgive Big 12 newcomers BYU for not knowing any better. In their first trip to Lawrence as a Big 12 foe, the Cougars rallied past the Jayhawks, 76-68, ending the Jayhawks’ 71-game home winning streak when leading at halftime, 67-game home winning streak against unranked teams, and 19-game home winning streak overall, which was tied for the third-longest in Division I.
Kansas was up by as much as 12 early in the second half and led 56-50 with under seven minutes remaining before BYU’s offense caught fire: The visitors outscored the hosts 26-12 over the final 6:57.
Dallin Hall played hero, giving the Cougars their first lead of the night at 59-58 on a pair of free throws with 4:50 left. He then hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to make it 62-60 with 3:44 to go for the final lead change of the game. Hall provided another massive 3-pointer with 1:33 left to stretch the lead to five, 71-66.
Hall, who entered the game as a 59% free throw shooter, also made 5 of 6 from the charity stripe en route to a team-high-tying 18 points. He was far from alone. Overall, Mark Pope’s squad made 13 of 34 threes, with Jaxson Robinson hitting a team-high four. Kansas, meanwhile, went just 3 of 15 from deep.
The Jayhawks were without Kevin McCullar Jr. for the second straight game and the fifth time in the last eight contests. Bill Self said it’s unclear if or when McCullar will return following a weekend win over Texas, and his absence created a major issue for the Jayhawks yet again. Hunter Dickinson registered 17 points and 11 rebounds, but the rest of the starters shot 14 of 43 (33%). Nicolas Timberlake, McCullar’s replacement in the starting lineup, was 1 of 9. Outside of their 3-point woes, the Jayhawks also shot 19 of 31 (61%) on free throws.
The game represented two very different styles of offense. The Cougars shoot over half of their shots from beyond the arc, a top-five rate in D-I. Kansas, on the other hand, shoots just 30% of its shots from 3-point land, among the lowest rates in D-I and the lowest rate in the Big 12.
Overall, BYU outscored Kansas 39-9 on 3-pointers and 29-9 off the bench, two major components to the Cougars’ best win of the season.
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