San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
JC TRANSFER RESCUES JAYHAWKS
The blueblood nature of Kansas means coach Bill Self rarely needs to mine the junior college ranks for talent.
He’s sure glad he found Tyon Grant-foster.
The transfer from Indian Hills Community College drove for the go-ahead basket with just over a minute to go Saturday, then swatted away Sam Geisel’s layup with 10 seconds left, helping the sluggish seventh-ranked Jayhawks escape with a 6561 victory over North Dakota State.
“Tyon was great, great, great down the stretch,” said Self, who wound up playing him more than 21 minutes off the bench. “I was really happy for him because he hasn’t had many opportunities yet.”
Jalen Wilson had 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Ochai Agbaji added 13 points, including a free throw in the final seconds that helped Kansas (4-1) finish off a 7-0 run to end the game inside a mostly empty Allen Fieldhouse.
“Those are the fun ones,“Agbaji said, “when the other team is in it.”
Kansas trailed 61-60 when Grant-foster skated between two defenders for the go-ahead layup. North Dakota State (0-4) promptly turned it over with an offensive foul and then, after two free throws by Christian Braun at the other end, Grant-foster made his mark on the defensive side.
“I knew No. 5 was going to shoot it and once he did the spin, I knew he wasn’t going
Kansas 65, N.D. State 61
to see me coming over because he turned his back to me,” Grant-foster said. “And I love blocking shots, so I knew I was going to go get it.”
Tyree Eady led the Bison with 14 points. Rocky Kreuser added 11 before fouling out late.
“That’s on me. I have to put them in a better position down the stretch to finish things,” North Dakota State coach David Richman said. “We’re not into this thing for moral victories.”
After romping past Division II Washburn on Thursday night in their first home game of the season, the Jayhawks had their hands full with the first Division I foe of their five-game stand at the Phog.
In fact, the Bison ripped off the first eight points of the game and trailed just 3533 at halftime.
The second half is when the Jayhawks usually assert control against unranked opponents — their last such loss in the Phog was in February 2018. But with only about 100 friends and family on hand because of the pandemic, there was none of the raucous noise and intimidating mystique that has given them such a homefloor advantage over the years.
North Dakota State gave up the first bucket of the second half but then ripped off an 11-2 run, at one point forcing Self to burn a timeout. And the Bison still led 51-44 with 12 minutes to go on a 3-pointer from Maleeck
Harden-hayes before the media timeout allowed the Jayhawks to gather their wits.
No. 1 Gonzaga-no. 2 Baylor., ppd.: The two teams said they would look to make up the game after COVID problems hit the top-ranked Bulldogs. No. 5 Illinois’ game against visiting Tennessee Martin was called off, as was No. 23 Ohio State’s home game against Alabama-a&m.
No. 10 Houston 77, South Carolina 67: Quentin Grimes had 23 points and seven rebounds, Tramon Mark added 18 points and host Houston (4-0) rallied for a win over South Carolina (1-2). Grimes scored 19 points in the second half, including 12 of 13 from the free throw line.
West
Arizona 70, Eastern Washington 67: James Akinjo scored 15 points, Dalen Terry had a steal and the clinching free throws with five seconds left as host Arizona (2-0) edged Eastern Washington (0-2).
Air Force 59, Lamar 44: Chris Joyce tied his career high with 23 points as host Air Force topped Lamar (0-4). Keaton Van Soelen had 15 points and five assists for Air Force (2-1).
UNLV 68, Kansas State 58: David Jenkins Jr. scored 17 of his season-high 25 points in the second half, Bryce Hamilton finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and UNLV (1-4) beat Kansas State (1-3).
BYU 67, Utah State 64: Alex Barcello scored 23 points as visiting BYU (5-1) held off Utah State (1-3). Barcello hit two free throws with seven seconds remaining, but the Aggies’ Rollie Worster missed a tying 3pointer with 3 seconds remaining, and the Cougars grabbed the rebound.