Kansas feels wounded Harris’ absence, survives UCF at home

Lawrence, can. – Kansas was in two very rare situations against UCF on Tuesday night.

Jayhawks No. 11 played without Point Guard Dajuan Harris Jr. For the first time in almost five years after he fine -tuned his ankle in practice. And the knights had them on the brink of back-to-back loss at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since Roy Williams was in his first season, strolling over Kansa’s sideline nearly 36 years ago.

In the end, Jayhawks (15-5, 6-3 BIG 12) had enough to hold on to a team it hit with 51 points on the road just a few weeks ago. Zeke Mayo poured into 24 points, including a couple to squeeze free kicks with 3.1 seconds to go, and Hunter Dickinson had 24 points and made some key photos of his own in a 91-87 victory over Knights.

“We just tried to survive,” said Kansas coach Bill Self. “I think it’s pretty clear how valuable Juan is after seeing our ball action and getting us into insult and defense.”

At least Jayhawk’s KJ Adams Jr. back from a shoulder injury. He had sat the previous three games, and Senior Forward made a few important plays down the stretch to help Kansas avoid his third home loss in the season.

“He was huge – someone we certainly needed. He has so much heart, ”said Mayo. “He brings an energy to our team that is hard to find with someone else. He is very cruel and it is a guy we need for the rest of the year.”

Harris has played in 159 games and had started the last 98, tied to the seventh longest row at Kansas, and his 4,688 minutes played is only number two to Danny Manning in the school’s history. And Jayhawks could have used him in the first half when Shakeel Moore picked up a few mistakes and the depth of Kansas -Backcourt was tested.

Mayo held Jayhawks in the game, drilled six 3-Pointers and hit a number of floaters while dragging nine rebounds down and using six assists. David Coit came from the bench and hit four 3s and finished with 12 points.

Both held their tranquility down on the stretch, something Kansas was unable to do in his double-over-overturn to Houston on Saturday.

Jayhawks, who pulled out nine in the second half, used a 12-2 race to take the lead. And they were still clinging to an advantage of 87-86, when Adam’s forced Keyshawn Hall-as ended with 34 points to a turnover.

Adams were buried and made both free kicks with 4.6 seconds back and put the knights in a bond.

Kansas chose to ugly Darius Johnson, who missed his first bad shot before making the second. Jayhawks filed the ball to Mayo, who was immediately buried and his two free kicks with 3.1 seconds left removed the game.

“It’s the next man up and trusting coach in what he puts out there for us,” Mayo said. “It’s all about playing together, keeping in touch, and we just want to keep going on. Get Juan back, hopefully, and go a race.”

Harris has scored 1,078 points with 786 assists and he needs 19 to pass Jacque Vaughn for No. 2 on the career list behind Aaron Miles. The only player that appears in multiple games for Kansas is Mitch Lightfoot, who played in 168. Depending on how many games Harris sits out, he could surpass it at the end of the regular season or in Big 12 or NCAA tournaments .

“We thought he was playing this morning. We thought he was doing well this morning and obviously going out to the shot and couldn’t do anything on it,” Self said. “Fortunately, it’s Tuesday. Tomorrow is a off day and we’ll see if he’s able to go on Thursday.”