A quick look from Dajuan Harris to KJ Adams Jr. is a common draw-up for Kansas coach Bill Self and his offense. But, it was the saving grace in the Jayhawks’ 69-67 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

Harris’ ninth assist of the game set up Adams’ critical two-pointer to push No. Kansas (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) over the Cowboys. Eight seconds before, Oklahoma State had its sights set on the win, or at least overtime, when former Kansas guard Bryce Thompson drilled a game-tying 3.

Names like Harris, Jalen Wilson, and Kevin McCullar have opened up Adams’ confidence through now 13 games. Adams, matched up with the likes of OSU center Moussa Cisse, recorded his sixth consecutive game in double figures on Wednesday (14).

“It's easy to play when you don't have that much pressure on you,” Adams said. “When you're Kevin or (Jalen Wilson) you have a lot of pressure on you. But I'm kind of playing over there with a free mind.”

Kansas trailed Oklahoma State by as much as 15 at halftime. Adams, leading the KU second-half scoring with 11, served as a pillar for the Jayhawks’ turnaround.

The Oklahoma State defense that held Kansas to 26 of 56 (46%) on the afternoon slipped its grip and allowed the Jayhawks to outscore OSU 39-22 in the second half. Defensively, Kansas improved its shot defense to just 7 of 25 and forced seven turnovers from the Cowboys.

One critical part of the job was defending Cisse. Adams said it ended up being a team effort all game long. Cisse, standing at 7-foot-1, was limited to just four points and six rebounds. Even with support from Harris, Wilson, and McCullar, Adams said they had to reroute their strategy to contain the paint in the second half.

“They always dive on the post when (Cisse) has it but at the end of the game, we kind of went off of it because they were expecting a dive,” Adams said. “So, it kind of messes them up a little bit because they're anticipating divers, so that helps a little bit just to keep them on their feet.”

Even as the Kansas defense improved, the Cowboys were still more than capable of finding Thompson for a deadly three-point basket late in the game. And that’s exactly where OSU went in the final two minutes of play, with Thompson hitting 2 of his game-high 7 three-pointers during that stretch.

Jalen Wilson, scoring 20 team-high points, recalled the urgency of finding Adams to pick up the game-winning basket in crunch time.

“I didn't want to want us to settle for any jumpers, especially with the momentum that we had,” Wilson said. “And, actually, they had a guard down there. So, that was the perfect play to get it to (Adams) to jump over him and make the shot.”

The close call with Oklahoma State gave Adams the chance to test his ability against one of the Big 12’s most physical defenses. The Jayhawks drew a game-high 17 fouls when the dust settled, also coughing up 12 turnovers along the way.

Adams feels he’s opening up his game just as the conference schedule begins.

"I'm just building up my confidence," Adams said. "This is a different level of basketball during the Big 12 (schedule)... It's just confidence between each other."

Kansas heads to Lubbock for a road test with Texas Tech on Jan. 3. The Red Raiders (10-3, 0-1 Big 12) opened their conference slate with a 67-61 loss at TCU on Wednesday.