McCullar scores career-best 34 points, No. 2 Kansas beats Yale

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kevin McCullar Jr. scored a career-high 34 points, taking over during a second-half run that gave Kansas the lead, and the No. 2 Jayhawks eventually pulled away from Yale for a 75-60 victory Friday night.

Nicolas Timberlake came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers and score 13 for the Jayhawks (11-1), who trailed by as many as 11 in the first half and by a point at the break before making the final appear much more comfortable than it was all night.

Yale (7-6) shut down Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, kept the Jayhawks from getting into transition and held its own on the glass. It also got 13 points apiece from guards August Mahoney and Bez Mbeng, who kept the Bulldogs in the game.

Kansas has had trouble with trap-type games this season, stumbling past Eastern Illinois between the Maui Invitational and a showdown with UConn, and struggling to overcome a slow start against Kansas City before facing rival Missouri.

That was the case again in the Jayhawks' last game before an eight-day holiday break.

They missed easy shots in the paint, took poor shots from the perimeter and allowed Yale to gain some confidence when Mahoney and John Poulakidas began knocking down 3-pointers. By the time Danny Wolf knocked down a 3 of his own, and Kansas coach Bill Self called timeout, the Bulldogs had built a 25-14 lead in the closing minutes of the first half.

The Jayhawks settled down a bit, scoring the final seven points of the half, but they still trailed 33-32 at the break.

Then they turned up the defense in the second half.

Forcing the Bulldogs into a pair of shot-clock violations, and very nearly three more, the Jayhawks slowly pulled back ahead. And when they got the lead, they quickly extended it, unspooling a 13-1 run to take a 51-43 lead with 7 1/2 minutes to go.

McCullar added a pair of 3s during a 10-0 run a couple of minutes later that put the game away.

UP NEXT

Yale visits Santa Clara on Dec. 30.

Kansas plays Wichita State the same day in Kansas City, Missouri.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball