LAWRENCE, Kan. — Norm Roberts has completed his stint as acting coach of the Kansas Jayhawks with four wins in four games.
Jalen Wilson scored a career-high 33 points (with six rebounds) and Gradey Dick added 18 points and cashed a huge 3 down the stretch, as No. 6 KU edged Southern Utah of the Western Athletic Conference, 82-76, on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Wilson hit 12 of 22 shots and seemingly refused to let KU (4-0) lose what turned out to be a surprisingly close game.
Dajuan Harris contributed 14 points as KU escaped a game in which the Jayhawks trailed by as many as six and led by as many as eight.
The 57-year-old Roberts, now in his 11th season as an assistant on Bill Self’s KU coaching staff (he also was on Self’s original KU staff before leaving to run the St. John’s men’s basketball program for six years) has coached the team on game nights for season-opening wins over Omaha, North Dakota State, Duke and now SUU (3-2).
Self missed the first four games because of a university-imposed suspension in response to the NCAA investigation into KU hoops.
Roberts now turns the reins back to 20th-year KU coach Self, starting with the upcoming Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.
This game was close throughout. In fact, the Jayhawks trailed by two before rolling on an 11-2 run to grab a 62-55 lead with 9:21 left.
However at that point SUU rallied to cut the gap to 62-59 at 7:55.
KU led 77-69 with 2:11 left and finally looked as if it might pull away. However, SUU scored seven straight points to cut the defecit to one with one minute to play.
At the other end, Harris had his shot blocked, but the ball was rebounded by KJ Adams — who kicked the ball out to Dick for a 3 to give KU a four-point lead (80-76).
McCullar was fouled and hit one of two free throws to make it 81-76. Then Harris, who took a huge charge late, hit a free throw to complete the scoring. Trevion Wilson had 25 points for the visitors.
Going back to the first half, the game was tight throughout. In fact, it took a buzzer-beating inside shot from Wilson to give the Jayhawks a two-point lead (41-39) at halftime. Wilson had 14 points (6-of-10 shooting) with four rebounds, while Dick had 13 points and five boards in the first half.
Dick went 3 for 3 from 3 in the half, while his teammates were 1 of- 5 from beyond the arc in that span. KU committed 10 turnovers in the period, including four from Kevin McCullar.
Southern Utah put up 17 3s in the first half and 28 for the game. They made nine on the evening, with six coming in the first period. Kansas finished the game shooting 6 for 15 from 3.
