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Kansas basketball loses rivalry game on road against Big 12 Conference-foe Kansas State

MANHATTAN — Kansas basketball’s 2023-24 season suffered a setback Monday night with a 75-70 road loss against Kansas State in Big 12 Conference play.

Here are a few takeaways from the No. 4 Jayhawks (18-5, 6-4 in Big 12) rivalry defeat against the Wildcats (15-8, 5-5 in Big 12):

Kansas and Kansas State go to overtime inside Bramlage Coliseum, again

Last season, when Kansas traveled to take on Kansas State, the Jayhawks came up short. The Wildcats were able to pull out a win in overtime. It was a loss that could prove costly for coach Bill Self and company in the Big 12 race, as they ended up only winning the league’s regular season title outright by one game last season.

This season, despite Kansas leading for much more of the game at times by double digits, squandered the advantage before it went into overtime again. For the second-straight year, the Jayhawks came up short.

Kansas State’s 3-point barrage wasn’t what took Kansas down

Kansas State came in as a team that wasn’t afraid to take 3s, and lived up to that. Of the 58 attempted shots the Wildcats took, 26 of them were from behind the arc. They finished 9-for-26 (34.6%) from behind the arc.

But it wasn’t the 3s that put Kansas away.

The Jayhawks, who took advantage of the turnover differential, couldn’t hit enough shots and finished 41.2% from the field. They were poor from behind the arc, as well, finishing at 20%. They had to work to get to the 70 points they finished with.

A quiet night offensively for Johnny Furphy

Much has been made about the run Kansas freshman guard Johnny Furphy has been on during Big 12 play. Ahead of the road game against Kansas State, he had put together a streak of six-straight games with double-digit scoring outputs. Despite showing potential at times this season, he wasn't a focal point offensively for the Jayhawks against the Wildcats when it came to scoring the ball.

Furphy finished with four points. He shot 2-for-7 from the field and 0-for-4 from behind the arc. It wasn’t as if Kansas’ bench stepped up to make up for that step back in production either, which further affected the Jayhawks.

Kansas State students hold up editions of The Collegian while Kansas players are introduced before tipoff of the Sunflower Showdown on Monday inside Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.
Kansas State students hold up editions of The Collegian while Kansas players are introduced before tipoff of the Sunflower Showdown on Monday inside Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball loses rivalry game on road against Kansas State