Kansas basketball silences UCF’s court-storm preparations with 51-point statement win

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About a year ago, Kansas basketball’s fans, players, and coaches had to watch as UCF fans stormed the court in Orlando after a 65-60 victory.

Although the Jayhawks led by as many as 16 points, they struggled as halftime arrived. After leading by eight points at the break, KU watched UCF out-score it by 13 points in the second half to win by five. It was a disappointing loss for a Kansas team that would go on to fall short of its goals that season.

But fast forward to this year, and Sunday specifically, and there was no reason for UCF fans to storm the court after a rematch at Addition Financial Arena. The No. 7 Jayhawks (10-3, 1-1 in Big 12 Conference) were celebrating a 51-point, 99-48 win when the game ended this season. From graduate center Hunter Dickinson’s perspective, it wasn’t as if the team needed head coach Bill Self to bring up last season’s defeat all that much before tip-off.

RELATED: Kansas basketball showcases its potential in lopsided victory on road against UCF

“In the shoot-around last night, we saw confetti falling down from the top, and so apparently somebody was expecting another upset this year,” Dickinson told reporters postgame, according to a press conference video from the Lawrence Journal-World.

“And so, we carried that in. And then we also carried in, too, them telling us that we had to go through a separate exit when we were leaving — like they were preparing for another court-storming. And I felt like guys took that to heart, and really realized how teams are looking at us, and we really needed to come out and show everybody why we were the preseason No. 1 team in the country.”

Self highlighted the 16-point lead in the first half last year as well, as he reflected on the two games Sunday. He thought his Jayhawks played with pretty low IQ as the first half came to an end last season, and allowed a significant lead to dwindle. He thought that allowed UCF to start to have some hope, which the home side turned into an upset victory as…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kansas-basketball-silences-ucfs-court-164444543.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-06 16:44:00

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