NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Trae Young vowed to make changes after his spectacular, yet inefficient game against Oklahoma State.
He wasn’t kidding.
Oklahoma’s fabulous freshman point guard had 26 points on just nine field goal attempts, and the 12th-ranked Sooners rallied to beat the fifth-ranked Jayhawks 85-80 on Tuesday night.
Young scored 48 points against Oklahoma State, but he took 39 shots and missed potential game-winning 3-pointers at the end of regulation and overtime in a loss . Before that, he turned the ball over 12 times in a loss to Kansas State.
“The way I played at OSU — I was overly aggressive at OSU,” Young said. “I think tonight, I managed the game a lot better. I got back to the way I was playing before last week and even before K-State. I managed the game a lot better and teammates did a great job of making plays, too.”
Kansas coach Bill Self was impressed with the way Young adjusted.
“Kid played great,” Self said. “I mean he got 26 points on nine shots. That’s very impressive for a guard, and he was very under control and seemed to make the vast majority of the right plays for his team.”
Christian James scored 15 points and Brady Manek added 14 for the Sooners (15-4, 5-3 Big 12), who won their 13th straight at home.
Svi Mykhailiuk scored 24 points and Malik Newman added 20 for Kansas (16-4, 6-2), which had won five straight.
Devonte’ Graham, Kansas’ leading scorer, finished with 11 points on 4-of-19 shooting.
“I just missed shots,” Graham said. “I told the guys in the locker room that you could put this one on me because I felt like I let the team down today. I had good open shots, but I was just missing them.”
Kansas led for most of the second half before Young made two critical, unselfish plays. James’ 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining on an assist from Young put the Sooners up 82-80. Manek later drained a 3-pointer, also on an assist from Young, to make it 85-80 with 25 seconds to play.
Kansas hosts Texas A&M on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas: The Jayhawks were two games ahead of the rest of the Big 12 in the loss column and missed a chance to take control of the conference race.
Oklahoma: The Sooners needed a win after the two road losses to unranked opponents. They also helped the rest of the league stay within range of the Jayhawks.
STAT LINES
Young’s nine field-goal attempts were his fewest of the season. He had attempted at least 20 shots in each of his previous five games. He had five turnovers against the Jayhawks, down from 12 against Kansas State and seven against Oklahoma State last week. He also attempted just three 3-pointers after taking 20 against Oklahoma State and at least 10 in each of his previous five games.
No. 12 OKLAHOMA 85, No. 5 KANSAS 80
KANSAS (16-4)
Azubuike 4-5 1-7 9, Graham 4-19 2-4 11, Vick 2-6 0-0 4, Mykhailiuk 9-19 0-0 24, Newman 7-12 3-3 20, De Sousa 0-0 0-0 0, Lightfoot 4-6 0-0 8, Cunliffe 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 32-71 6-14 80.
OKLAHOMA (15-4)
Manek 5-8 0-0 14, Lattin 4-6 0-0 8, James 5-14 2-3 15, Odomes 1-3 7-8 9, T.Young 7-9 10-12 26, Doolittle 0-0 0-0 0, Freeman 0-1 0-0 0, Polla 1-3 0-0 2, McNeace 3-6 0-1 6, McGusty 2-7 1-1 5, Shepherd 0-0 0-0 0, Lazenby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 20-25 85.
Halftime—Oklahoma 43-41. 3-Point Goals—Kansas 10-32 (Mykhailiuk 6-13, Newman 3-5, Graham 1-9, Lightfoot 0-1, Vick 0-4), Oklahoma 9-23 (Manek 4-6, James 3-9, T.Young 2-3, Freeman 0-1, McGusty 0-4). Fouled Out—Freeman, Graham. Rebounds—Kansas 34 (Graham 7), Oklahoma 36 (Manek, McNeace 7). Assists—Kansas 17 (Graham 9), Oklahoma 14 (T.Young 9). Total Fouls—Kansas 19, Oklahoma 21. A—11,886 (11,562).
