Kansas
Kansas flips script at halftime with ‘great’ second-half defense
Kansas went into halftime trailing for the second straight game at Allen Fieldhouse, falling behind Arizona State 42-36. The 42 points were the most the Jayhawks had allowed in a first half all season.
The next 20 minutes completely flipped the script, as the Sun Devils scored just 13 points on five made baskets. It was the lowest amount an opponent had scored during a half since 2013 when TCU scored nine points in the first half.
“We understood we were having trouble guarding there for a while, that first half,” Zeke Mayo said postgame. “[We] let up a couple of shots that the scouting report we didn’t really want to give up, including myself. It was kind of an emphasis at halftime to dig down, play desperate, play with a lot of intensity. I think we did that in the second half.”
Kansas didn’t blow away Arizona State with its offense. The Jayhawks shot a worse percentage in the second half, but their defensive effort allowed them to come away with a comfortable victory.
“We were great defensively,” Bill Self said. “Who would’ve thought we shot the ball worse the second half from two, we shot it worse from three, and basically held them to 11… that was exceptional.”
Shakeel Moore was one of the catalysts of the second-half defense. Moore had a sequence where he picked up steals on consecutive possessions, leading to two dunks as part of a 20-5 run in the first 10 minutes.
“If I was gonna pick an MVP of the game, I’d pick Shak, just because of the energy that he brought,” Self said. “He doesn’t score a ton of points, but he makes plays that, to me, give teams confidence and spark energy as much as anything.”
One of his steals came out of the full-court press, which Kansas opted to implement more often in the second half. It helped ratchet up the pressure, but it also wore out an Arizona State team that played just seven players.
“When you’re playing everybody 33, 35, 37 minutes, the more you make them have to earn things and not give them times where they can rest, I think it makes it harder,” Self said. “That’s one thing we wanted to do, but we actually talked about that a lot in practice, that we were gonna try to be different.”
Mayo echoed that pressure was a part of the team’s scouting report. The Sun Devils played with one true ball handler, and he thought the full-court press was a good way to attack them defensively.
“A lot of their guys didn’t really handle pressure very well,” Mayo said. “That second half, coach emphasized getting after them, picking up full court. It kind of messed with their offense a little bit.”
Self added that he thought the press was good, and he thinks Kansas may use more of it going forward.
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WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Crews are battling multiple grass fires in southwest Kansas.
There are seven active fires near Rolla in Morton County, according to emergency management.
The Kansas Department of Transportation said Kansas 51 Highway between the U.S. 56 Highway junction in Rolla and the Kansas Highway 27 junction in Richfield is closed due to the fires.
According to Storm Track 3 Meteorologist Jack Maney, the fires started as a dry thunderstorm moved through the area. But the cause of the fires hasn’t been determined yet, as crews are still working to bring them all under control.
In addition to Morton County, there are also reports of wildfires in Ford, Clark, Meade and Stevens counties.
The State Emergency Operations Center has been partially activated to help respond to the fires.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks said Meade State Park has not been affected but has warned visitors to reconsider coming due to multiple fires in the area.
For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) -Matthew Ho likes to keep a clean car.
“I basically use my car a lot for work, with my multiple day jobs and weekend jobs,” Ho said.
However, on Tuesday, it was anything but.
“I was on 135 going northbound towards Bel Aire,” Ho said, “Right about the exit of 21st st I kind of saw this big mess of pile up that just happened right as I was blinking.”
Ho had no choice but to drive through it. Then the smell came.
“I think it took a little bit just because at first it didn’t seem like it was anything,” Ho said.
The smell continued to get worse and there was nothing he could do about it. It was a 90 degree day, and even with that intense weather he could not use the air conditioning because the air that it used was smelly itself.
“It sticks, and now that we’re downdraft winds you can just smell it all the time,” Ho said.
The company responsible for the spill, No Limit Logistics LLC, said, ‘There was no human waste’. The Kansas Highway Patrol says otherwise.
Ho has tried to wash the smell out of his car multiple times.
“It didn’t work,” Ho said, “Washed the car again, still didn’t go away.”
Now, he is looking for someone to take responsibility.
“I would really like compensations for all the car wash, especially when it was something I didn’t do personally,” Ho said, “A mechanical failure on a truck isn’t necessarily someone’s fault, but someone’s liable for it.”
Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Fire damaged a Kansas City house so extensively it may need to be demolished.
Firefighters responded to a house fire near W. 81st and Summit Street around 1:45 p.m. on May 12.
Firefighters said they noticed smoke coming from the attic when they arrived at the house. They were able to extinguish the fire minutes after they arrived.
No one was in the house at the time of the fire, according to the fire department. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Inspectors are examining the house to see if it is stable and safe enough to remain standing or if it will need to be demolished.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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