Kansas back in the win column after surviving late OU push

LAWRENCE (KSNT)- Kansas men's basketball took down Oklahoma in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, despite a late scare from the Sooners.

The Jayhawks beat OU 71-69 to bounce back from a loss at Texas earlier in the week. It's the 21st straight home Big 12 win for Kansas. They improve to 11-1 at home this season and stay on top of the Big 12 with the victory.

After trailing by three at halftime, the Jayhawks found themselves down by five at the midway point of the second half. They responded from here with back to back 3-pointers to take the lead.

The three that took the lead came from Zach Clemence, who had not played in a game in over a month. Clemence came up big for the Jayhawks, not only with the 3-point bucket, but with a couple big rebounds. It's only the second Big 12 game Clemence, a true freshman, has played in this season.

When the Jayhawks went up by eight with 1:32 to play it appeared the game was over. It wasn't. OU mounted A 10-3 run, capped off by a layup from Elijah Harkless to pull the Sooners within one point with 17 seconds remaining.

Oklahoma got a final chance to tie the game, after Jalen Wilson made one of two free-throws, but Jordan Goldwire's shot with two seconds left missed.

With Ochai Agbaji not playing to the Big 12 Player of the Year level the team is used to, other players had to step up. In the first half, it was David Mccormack. The Kansas big man scored seven points in the first ten minutes of the game. In the second half it was Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson who came through clutch.

Wilson finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, paired with 18 points and eight boards from Braun. The eighth ranked Jayhawks play again in Lawrence on Monday against Oklahoma State.