Second-Half Surge Leads Kansas Past Yale 75-60

In the final contest before the players went their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Kansas Jayhawks overcame a slow start to surge in the second half and win 75-60 over Yale thanks to a career night from Kevin McCullar and Nick Timberlake’s best game as a Jayhawk.

Key Plays

Yale got on the board first with a Danny Wolf drive. Kansas took two early threes that both missed but Hunter Dickinson got started with an offensive rebound and putback before McCullar drew an and-one. Yale succeeded at slowing Kansas down and forcing long shots early, as KU made just 2-5 to start and a turnover.

In a welcome sight, the bench was productive early. Parker Braun came in for Dickinson at the under-16 break and slammed home an alley-pop from KJ Adams and then Timberlake scored four straight points inside the arc. Still, Kansas struggled to score and Yale made early plays to go up 15-11 eight minutes into the game.

Timberlake finally had the start KU fans had hoped for, drilling a three for his seventh point, which was half of KU’s first 14. Unfortunately no one else could score and Yale hit back-to-back threes as part of a 10-0 run to jump out to a 25-14 lead. A Dickinson basket ended Kansas’ nearly five-minute scoring drought. Then a steal led to a McCullar and-one and the lead suddenly dropped to six.

Yale hit five of its first 10 threes to keep Kansas at arms length, though McCullar drives and a Dajuan Harris three kept the deficit at five. Then Harris found Adams for a huge alley-oop with a minute left. A Yale turnover and McCullar drive that led to a foul and two free throws and suddenly a 33-32 game, which was the score at the break.

The teams traded baskets and turnovers for the first four minutes of the second half as Yale hung on to a one-point lead. A McCullar three was the shot to tie the game at 41. After a Yale free throw, a Dickinson layup after a Timberlake-to-Elmarko Jackson assist gave Kansas its first lead since midway through the first half.

Dickinson finally got going with a hook shot to push the lead to three with Adams on the bench dealing with cramps. McCullar free throws gave Kansas its largest lead of the game and then he threw down a dunk on an out-of-bounds lob. Harris stole the ball on the next possession and Timberlake missed a three but Adams grabbed the rebound and dished it to McCullar for a layup. Yale called timeout with KU suddenly up eight and McCullar with 25 of the Jayhawks’ 51.

A three a minute later gave McCullar a new career high at 28. Then Timberlake drained a corner three for his 10th point to put KU up 10 before a subsequent Harris steal and foul was ruled a flagrant and Kansas went up 12 after free throws. McCullar buried another three for 31 points and another steal and Adams layup made it 10 straight for KU. Harris found Timberlake again in transition for another triple and his 13th point. Icing on the cake was McCullar banking in a top-of-the-key three to go up 72-57.

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

McCullar did it all on Friday. He was 11-18 from the field, 4-7 from three, and a perfect 8-8 from the line to finish with 34 points to go with six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. Harris was the only other starter in double figures with 10, along with six steals and four assists.

Dickinson finished with just eight points and 10 rebounds while Adams had six points, four assists, and two steals. Jackson did not have his best game by any means, scoring just two points on 1-6 shooting while turning it over three times.

But what a time for Timberlake to make his mark, scoring a season-high 13 along with three rebounds, an assist, and two steals.

Kansas hit 9-20 from deep while Yale cooled off throughout the game, finishing 8-21 and making just 42% of its shots overall. Yale was led by Ben Mbeng and August Mahoney with 13 apiece. Wolf started strong with Dickinson guarding him but was mostly held in check against Adams and McCullar and finished with 11.

Areas of Improvement

It’s not just that turnovers continue to be an issue, and they were in the first half, but many of them were unforced by a team that doesn’t cause many turnovers. KU did a better job in the second half but still ended with 12 turnovers on the game, with many of them being misplaced passes or balls going through their hands.

The offense also struggled for long stretches early, and it was clear that when Dickinson wasn’t bringing it and the defense was centered on him, no one outside of McCullar made a play for a long portion.

Takeaways

There’s a reason Kansas hadn’t won by more than 14 in the game before Christmas since 2017. Yale is a disciplined, talented team and Kansas sleep-walked through the first half. But a double-digit win to move to 11-1 is nothing to take for granted. And if this was the game that turned Timberlake’s season around, then it was a key point in the season.