For the second year in a row, the Kansas Jayhawks will play in the Big 12 tournament title game. Jalen Wilson made sure of that.
Wilson scored 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ 71-58 win against Iowa State on Friday at T-Mobile Center. Kansas will play Texas in the tourney final at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“Our main focus and goal right now is to win a championship while we’re here,” Wilson said. “I think we came out ready to play and set the tone being aggressive.”
Wilson made his first four shots, including three threes. Wilson made 8 of 14 shots and went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line. He also added three steals.
“He’s the best player in the country in my eyes,” said Dajuan Harris, who scored 11 points. “If he keeps playing like that and starts off early, that’s a great sign for us.”
Iowa State (19-13) hung around and trailed 33-25 at halftime. The Cyclones came out of the locker room with a 10-2 spurt and took the lead 39-38 five minutes into the second half.
But the KU defense stiffened as Harris had four steals and helped keep Gabe Kalscheur (eight points) and Jaren Holmes (16 points) somewhat in check.
“He proved why he’s the (Big 12) defensive player of the year,” Wilson said. “Juan had a tough assignment, and I’m super proud of him.”
The Jayhawks (27-6) were still without coach Bill Self, and guard Kevin McCullar missed the second half with back spasms. But Gradey Dick made two big buckets late and finished with 15 points — 13 coming in the second half. KJ Adams added eight points, four rebounds and four assists.
Assistant coach Norm Roberts, who improved to 6-0 filling in for Self this season, said McCullar is “day to day” with his back. The Jayhawks did receive some positive news on the injury front as Self spoke with the team earlier in the day and again after the game.
“He’s just getting better,” Roberts said of Self. “We talked to him early this morning going over the game plan of how we wanted to guard and what we wanted to do, and he was OK with that. And we talked right after the game, and he said we really guarded today, and he was really happy for our guys.”
