AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Kansas' Kevin McCullar Jr. Electrifies Fans as Hunter Dickinson, Jayhawks Beat UConn

Paul Kasabian

Kevin McCullar Jr.'s hot three-point shooting guided the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team to a 69-65 home win over the No. 4 UConn Huskies.

McCullar hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to turn a 54-52 deficit into a 58-54 KU lead with 5:15 remaining.

Hunter Dickinson, who scored 15 points, then followed up with his own three for a 61-54 edge.

UConn clawed back to make this a one-possession game at 63-60, but McCullar answered again with a three for a six-point lead with 1:10 remaining.

The Huskies weren't done yet, though, thanks to Tristen Newton scoring five of his game-high 31 points down the stretch. After Dajuan Harris Jr. missed two free throws, UConn had a chance for the win down 67-65, but Cam Spencer's three-pointer missed the mark. Two KU free throws closed this out.

This was a great game featuring two top-five teams who easily could find themselves making deep March Madness runs. In the end, though, McCullar's hot shooting proved to be the difference.

He's been dominant after returning to school for his second season at KU (following three seasons at Texas Tech), averaging 18.1 points on 51.6 percent shooting, 7.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

Naturally, fans and analysts were impressed with his clutch performance.

The 7-1 Jayhawks will now play UMKC on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

   

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