The Kansas Jayhawks (19-9, 10-7 Big 12) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes (11-17, 2-15) by a score of 71-64 Monday night. A stellar night from Kansas center Hunter Dickinson in which he scored 32 points, his career high as a Jayhawk, helped KU overcome a hostile environment at the CU Events Center.
Dickinson got his night started with a bang, winning the tip-off and scoring a quick two-point floater. His performance gave Kansas the early advantage, and despite four points from Buffs forward Bangot Dak, the Jayhawks made their first six shots along with two free throws to get out to a 10-point lead and force a Colorado timeout just over four minutes in.
Following the timeout, Dak continued to shine for CU. He jammed home dunks on two straight possessions, cutting Kansas’ lead to just six. A clutch 3-pointer from Buffs forward Andrej Jakimovski thoroughly shifted the momentum back to Colorado, but it was short-lived as a Buffs foul opened the door for Kansas to stretch the lead back to nine.
Dickinson was a one-man wrecking crew on the interior for Kansas, scoring 15 points in the first half, all from inside the arc or at the free-throw line. Despite his scoring success on the interior, offensive rebounding was a struggle for the Jayhawks, as they registered just three in the first half. On the back of its rebounding success, CU went into halftime only trailing 37-32.
The Buffaloes opened up the second-half scoring with a layup from forward Sebastian Rancik. Behind the bucket and four straight missed free throws from Kansas, the sold-out CU Events Center came alive, rallying the Buffs to take their first lead of the night off a Julian Hammond III floater with just over 15 minutes left in the game.
Dickinson kept his team in the game, amassing 27 points with 3:30 to play.
“You can learn from Hunter Dickinson as a post player on our team,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said of the fifth-year center. “You can learn a lot.”
Despite his performance, Dak was bringing incredible physicality. After a devastating put-back dunk with five minutes to play, “Bangot Dak” chants began ringing in from the crowd.
“It shows I can play with guys at this level,” Dak said on what the performance meant to him.
The sophomore finished the night with 16 points and five rebounds.
Despite the new-found energy, the Buffaloes weren’t able to climb out of the deficit Kansas’s offense had created, and after two missed 3s to end the game, CU came up short by seven points.
Colorado’s next game will take place in Manhattan, Kansas against the Kansas State Wildcats (13-14, 7-9) on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
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