LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas found itself in two very rare situations against UCF on Tuesday night.
The No. 11 Jayhawks played without point guard Dajuan Harris Jr., who had tweaked his ankle in practice, for the first time in nearly five years. And the Knights had them on the brink of back-to-back losses at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since Roy Williams was in his first season roaming the Kansas sideline nearly 36 years ago.
In the end, the Jayhawks (15-5, 6-3 Big 12) had enough to hold on against a team it beat by 51 points on the road just a couple of weeks ago. Zeke Mayo poured in 24 points, including a pair of clinching free throws with 3.1 seconds to go, and Hunter Dickinson had 24 points and some key foul shots of his own in a 91-87 victory over the Knights.
“We were just trying to survive,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I think it’s pretty evident how valuable Juan is after watching our ballhandling and getting us into offense and defense.”
At least the Jayhawks had KJ Adams Jr. back from a shoulder injury. He had missed the previous three games, and the senior forward made a couple of important plays down the stretch to help Kansas avoid its third home loss of the season.
“He was huge — somebody we definitely needed. He has so much heart,” Mayo said. “He brings an energy to our team that’s hard to find in somebody else. He’s very gritty and that’s a guy we need for the rest of the year.”
Harris has played in 159 games and had started the past 98, tied for the seventh-longest streak at Kansas, and his 4,688 minutes played are second only to Danny Manning in school history. And the Jayhawks sorely could have used him in the first half, when Shakeel Moore picked up a pair of fouls and the depth of the Kansas backcourt was tested.
Mayo kept the Jayhawks in the game, drilling six 3-pointers and hitting an array of floaters while pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out six assists. David Coit came off the bench and hit four 3s and finished with 12 points of his own.
Both kept their composure down the stretch, something Kansas was unable to do in its double-overtime loss to Houston on Saturday.
The Jayhawks, who trailed by nine in the second half, used a 12-2 run to take the lead. And they were still clinging to an 87-86 advantage when Adams forced Keyshawn Hall — who finished with 34 points — into a turnover.
Adams was fouled and made both free throws with 4.6 seconds left, putting the Knights in a bind.
Kansas opted to foul Darius Johnson, who missed his first foul shot before making the second. The Jayhawks inbounded the ball to Mayo, who was promptly fouled, and his two free throws with 3.1 ticks on the clock put away the game.
“It’s next man up, and trusting Coach in what he puts out there for us,” Mayo said. “It’s about playing together, staying connected, and we’re just going to continue to move forward. Have Juan back, hopefully, and go for a run.”
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 to appear in more games for Kansas is Mitch Lightfoot, who played in 168. Depending on how many games Harris misses, he could surpass that by the end of the regular season or in the Big 12 or NCAA Tournaments.
“We thought he was playing this morning. We thought he was fine this morning and obviously goes out to the shootaround and couldn’t do anything on it,” Self said. “Fortunately, it’s Tuesday. Tomorrow is an off day and we’ll see if he’s able to go Thursday.”