Party like its 1997!
The Arizona Wildcats have suffered their first defeat of the season courtesy of your Kansas Jayhawks – and maybe a little Allen Fieldhouse magic.
I won’t go into a traditional recap – there’s plenty of those available – but let’s have a celebration thread.
Despite the absence of Darryn Peterson (flu), Kansas hung around all night, rallying from deficits of 11-4, 29-22, and 55-44. Arizona looked like they might run the Jayhawks off the court early in the second half when they built that 11-point lead, but KU went on one of those patented Allen Fieldhouse runs and took its first lead of the game at 65-64 with 9:32 to play.
The Jayhawks would not trail again.
Kansas picked up its first-ever win over a #1-ranked opponent inside Allen Fieldhouse (1-5). The Jayhawks are now 51-1 all-time on Big Monday in the Phog, including 40-0 under Bill Self.
KU is now 10-18 all-time against AP #1s, including 5-4 under Bill Self. Self is now 27-5 at KU when facing a higher-ranked opponent.
KU will have a rematch with Arizona in Tucson on Feb 28. I still think Arizona is the best team in the country so far this year; a four-point loss on the road against a top-10 opponent shouldn’t change that opinion. But the Jayhawks are trending up, now having won eight in a row, with four of those eight wins coming against top-15 teams. It’s almost enough to make one forget about the first two weeks of January.
If Kansas can add a healthy Darryn Peterson to what Melvin Council Jr and Flory Bidunga are cooking up – shoutout to Bryson Tiller, too – the next eight weeks could be a really fun time for Kansas fans.
Go crazy, people – turn everything blue!
Category: General Sports
