Jayhawks Claim Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Kansas Day

Box Score | Season Stats | Postgame Notes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Wyvette Mayberry scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Kansas Jayhawks to an 85-72 victory over Kansas State in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Sunday evening at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas improved to 14-5 on the year and 4-4 in Big 12 play while KSU fell to 13-9 (2-7 Big 12) for the season. The Jayhawks are now 10-1 inside Allen Fieldhouse this season.

Mayberry finished with 26 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists in 38 minutes of action. She also set a new season-high with four made three-pointers and hit 8-of-10 free throw attempts. Taiyanna Jackson also eclipsed the 20-point mark with her 13th double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a career-high six assists and four steals.

Holly Kersgieter also had a double-double, her third of the season, with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Zakiyah Franklin added 10 points and five assists.

“Wyvette’s speed was the difference maker down the stretch,” Kansas Coach Brandon Schneider said. “She found out that attacking the pressure and going downhill to the basket was the smartest thing she could do in those situations.”

The Jayhawks used an 18-3 run to take an 18-6 lead late in the first quarter and the Jayhawks led 18-10 at the end of the period. Lighting issues in between quarters would delay the game for nearly half an hour, but that would not slow down the Jayhawks, who added two points to their advantage to lead 39-29 at halftime.

KSU would get four points back in the third quarter, trailing 56-50 with 10 minutes to play, but the Jayhawks dominated the fourth to put the game away. Using a 9-4 run, the Wildcats closed to within one early in the fourth, but Jackson and Mayberry scored seven straight points to push the lead back to eight at 67-59. From that point forward, KU held a lead of at least five and outscored the Wildcats 29-22 in the final period.

Kansas dished out a season-high 21 assists against the Wildcats zone defense, getting six from Jackson and five apiece from Kersgieter and Franklin. The Jayhawks shot 49.1 percent from the field, hitting 28-of-57 field goals, while holding KSU to 37.5 percent shooting. The Jayhawks hit nine three-pointers, its most during a Big 12 game this season, while KSU hit 12 threes in the game.

Up Next
Kansas travels to Waco, Texas, to play Baylor on Wednesday Feb. 1. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. CT and be the 20th game of the year and ninth Big 12 game of the season.