No. 11 Kansas shuts down Arizona State in 2nd half to win 74-55
Kansas guard Rylan Griffen, right, looks to shoot under pressure from Arizona State guard BJ Freeman during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Lawrence, Kan. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Zeke Mayo scored 23 points and No. 11 Kansas held Arizona State to 13 in the second half of a 74-55 victory Wednesday night.
Hunter Dickinson added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Jayhawks (11-3, 2-1 Big 12), who started the second period with a 20-3 spurt that turned a six-point deficit into an 11-point lead at the second media timeout.
Kansas outscored the Sun Devils 38-13 after halftime.
Arizona State (10-4, 1-2) didn't score its 10th point of the half until 3:09 remained. ASU was led by Alston Mason with 19 points. BJ Freeman had 10, and Jayden Quaintance added nine points and 11 rebounds.
Takeaways
Arizona State: The Sun Devils clearly missed co-leading scorer Joson Sanon and his 13.5 points per game. Down a player, and with Freeman picking up his fourth foul with 12:32 left, they had trouble handling Kansas’ press for most of the second half.
Kansas: The Jayhawks lost their previous home game to West Virginia, but haven’t dropped consecutive home games since losing four straight in 1988-89 as part of a seven-game losing streak in Roy Williams’ first season as coach.
Key moment
Kansas trailed 42-36 at halftime, but Dickinson took a pass from Dajuan Harris and threw down a thunderous dunk over Quaintance to tie the score early in the second half. Quaintance picked up the foul and Dickinson’s free throw gave Kansas its first lead since the 8:24 mark of the first half. It was part of an 11-0 run to start the period.
Kansas forward KJ Adams Jr. (24) puts up a shot during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against the Arizona State, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Lawrence, Kan. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel
Key stat
Arizona State, which shot 46.7% in the first half, including 5 of 13 from 3-point territory, shot just 21.7% in the second half, including 1 of 11 from long range.
Up next
Arizona State returns home Saturday to face Baylor, while Kansas visits Cincinnati.
