Kansas was in danger of blowing a 15-point halftime lead after UNC took an 87-83 lead with 3:28 to play. However, in classic Allen Fieldhouse fashion, the Jayhawks found a way to pick up a gritty 92-89 win over a top-10 team.

After two free throws from Zeke Mayo tied the game at 87-87 with 2:16 to play, UNC instantly answered to retake the lead at the 2:03 mark. The Tar Heels wouldn’t score for the rest of the game. The Jayhawks executed on both ends and relied on a juiced crowd to will themselves to victory.

“It’s really hard to lose confidence when you’re playing in Allen Fieldhouse, like no matter what the score is,” Hunter Dickinson said. “Stuff’s gonna happen, you know, ebbs and flows throughout the game, but like at the end of the day, it’s all about making plays, executing when you need to. I think we did that out there.”

Kansas closed the gap thanks to two crucial plays from Zeke Mayo. He first cut the lead in half with a tough two, fighting through a lot of contact.

“I tried to draw RJ [Davis] on the foul, so I put up a pump fake, and he didn’t fall for it,” Mayo said. “I just put it up. [I] felt like I got hit a little bit, but the refs didn’t call it, so just put it up there, and God did the rest.”

On the next trip down the floor, Mayo was used as the distributor. Bill Self dialed up a set to free up Dickinson down low, and Mayo delivered a perfect post feed to put the Jayhawks ahead.

“That’s an old staple play we’ve run forever and Juan needs to be the initiator and Zeke’s the next passer after Juan,” Self said. “It worked out well. They really did a good job of crowding him [Dickinson]. I think it was Trimble that was crowding him, and somehow he got the ball over to Hunt.”

Dickinson had a chance to ice the game at the free throw line but missed the second, giving the Tar Heels one more chance to send the game to overtime down three. UNC opted to not use a timeout, letting things develop on the fly. Dajuan Harris denied RJ Davis the ball, and Hunter Dickinson switched out on to the smaller Elliot Cadeau and was able to contain him.

“I thought it was great, but Juan made the play,” Self said of the final defensive possession. “They were trying to get him [RJ Davis] a shot and Juan kinda top-blocked it, where they couldn’t give him the ball. And then we were switching five and Hunt did a really good job on Cadeau.”

Cadeau got off a three that was decently contested. It mirrored multiple game-tying attempts from opponents in the Phog over the years. Somehow, someway, the shot always seems to end up short.

“Fortunate for us, he missed the open look and we came out of there with a win,” Dickinson said. “I feel like there was some Phog Allen magic with that one.”