LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball didn’t exactly enjoy the experience it would have wanted Saturday, at home against Utah, but still came away with a 71-59 win inside Allen Fieldhouse.
The No. 11 Jayhawks (18-5, 8-2 in Big 12) have now won seven games in a row, with their most recent loss now about a month ago. The Utes (9-14, 1-9) continue to flounder against Big 12 Conference opponents and have yet to win a true road game this season. Despite a poor start to the second half for Kansas, the Jayhawks eventually pulled away on the way to the victory.
At one point during the first half, KU senior guard Melvin Council Jr. had to exit the game and the court after he fell hard after being fouled, but he returned to the game shortly after heading back toward the locker room. Council finished with 11 points, six assists, and five rebounds, and was one of the better individual performers for the Jayhawks in what wasn’t that thrilling of an overall team performance.
Sophomore forward Flory Bidunga led the way in many respects and finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and seven blocks.
Kansas, which didn’t get as great a game from freshman guard Darryn Peterson as one might have expected, now looks ahead to a game Monday at home against No. 1 Arizona. Play like this again, and odds are they won’t be able to celebrate a win like they still could against Utah. Arizona will arrive as a national title contender for a reason and be more than capable of making KU pay for that sluggish start.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball wins Big 12 Conference game vs Utah at home