Kansas got up by as many as 13 in the second half, but UCF stormed back and took the Jayhawks to the wire in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday night. The Knights went on a 14-0 run in the middle stretches of to get back in the game, Jordan Ivy-Curry tied the game at 83-83 with 14 seconds left in regulation to send the game to an extra period.

Hunter Dickinson powered the Jayhawks through overtime, and AJ Storr– who put together a season-high 19 points– put Kansas up 92-87 with 1:18 to play with a transition layup. UCF battled over the last minute-plus, but couldn’t execute a tap-in at the buzzer to let the Jayhawks escape with a 98-94 win. Kansas will move on to play Arizona in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

After a slow first half, Dickinson scored 14 in the second half to finish with 23. Zeke Mayo was efficient throughout the night, finishing with 24 points on 6/11 shooting. Storr and KJ Adams also tallied double-figure scoring and were the bulk of Kansas’ offense.

First half

Zeke Mayo got out to a red-hot start, scoring the first eight points for Kansas, including hitting two threes. A Mayo floated gave the Jayhawks an 8-0 lead just under three minutes into the game, forcing Johnny Dawkins to call a timeout. Darius Johnson responded with four straight out of the timeout, cutting Kansas’ lead in half heading to the under-16.

UCF’s offense got rolling, getting a couple of buckets in transition and threes from Nils Machowski and Keyshawn Hall. AJ Storr provided an impact off the bench to keep the Jayhawks ahead, getting downhill for two buckets and dropping off an assist to Hunter Dickinson. A putback basket from Flory Bidunga gave Kansas a 20-16 lead at the under-12 timeout.

Hall hunted his shot when he had a matchup advantage, essentially when KJ Adams wasn’t defending him. He got to the rim for a layup and free throws against Bidunga and Storr, tying the game at 22-22. Mayo found open space after relocating on a Dajuan Harris drive and knocked down his third three of the half.

Kansas got active on the offensive glass to hold a lead despite hitting a cold stretch from the floor. The Jayhawks went 1/8 but got a second-chance bucket from Bidunga. Hall continued to go after mismatches, scoring a basket with Harris as the primary defender to cut Kansas’ lead to 32-28 at the under-four timeout.

Adams subbed out, and Hall went right at Bidunga. He got to the line, making one free throw, then hit a three to make it a 34-32 game. Adams quickly subbed back in and instantly scored, and Hall did not score for the final 2:41

Storr hit a three to continue his strong first half, while Moustapha Thiam scored five for UCF. Kansas took a 40-37 lead into halftime in a pretty even half without major contributions from Dickinson.

Second half

Hall immediately tied the game with a three over Adams, but UCF then endured a cold spell as it started to turn it over. Dickinson picked up two steals which led to his offense getting going– knocking down a three as he scored seven straight.

The Jayhawks caught fire from three to open up their lead. Dickinson knocked down another three, followed by Mayo and Diggy Coit to make the score 58-48. Dickinson fired a cross-court pass to the corner to give Coit the opportunity at an open three.

Storr followed with two more threes, but UCF caught fire to keep the game close. The Knights went on an 11-3 run capped off by threes from Thiam and Deebo Coleman. Bill Self called a timeout with the Jayhawks leading 64-59 with 10:30 to play.

The Knights extended their run to 17-3 and 12 unanswered after Coleman and Tyler Hendricks hit threes. Self called another timeout after UCF took its first lead of the game, 65-64.

UCF took a 68-66 lead into the under-eight timeout after a dunk from Adams stopped the Knights’ run.

Kansas caught a four-point swing following a Darius Johnson three, taking the lead after Mayo knocked down two flagrant free throws and Dickinson hit a hook shot. The T-Mobile Center started to energize after Adams got loose for a transition dunk to put the Jayhawks up 74-71 with 5:40 to play.

UCF wouldn’t go away. Hall answered a Mayo three with one of his own to leave Kansas’ lead at 77-76 heading into the under-four timeout.

Adams induced a turnover on Hall on a lockdown defensive effort, and Mayo pushed Kansas’ lead to three after knocking down two free throws with just over two minutes left.

Johnson and Adams traded free throws, with Johnson fouling out with Kansas leading 83-80. Jordan Ivy-Curry hit a huge three to tie the game at 83-83 with 14 seconds to play.

Adams stepped on the baseline, and Ivy-Curry came up short at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

Overtime

Dickinson hit his third three of the game to open the overtime scoring for Kansas. Both teams were racking up the fouls as Harris fouled out.

Dickinson got on the glass for a putback dunk to put Kansas up 90-87. UCF missed a pair of threes, and Storr put the Jayhawks up five with 1:18 on a transition layup.

The Knights still would not go away, with Machowski hitting a three to cut the lead to two. Kansas turned it over to give UCF a chance to tie, but the Knights also couldn’t hold onto the ball, giving it back to the Jayhawks with 27.5 to play.

Storr nailed two clutch free throws, but then fouled out after surrendering an and-one to leave Kansas’ lead at 94-93 with 18.2 to play.

Mayo missed a free throw for a chance to put Kansas up three, but Thiam missed a short jumper and Dickinson iced the game at the line.