No. 1 Kansas escapes vs. Cornell

Sherron Collins had career-high 33 points and made nearly every key play down the stretch, helping No. 1 Kansas pull out a gutty 71-66 win over Cornell on Wednesday night.

Kansas (14-0) overcame a rare off night from the field -- 36 percent -- and shoddy defense in the first half, making just enough plays down the stretch in one of the toughest victories during its 51-game home winning streak.

Cornell (12-3), the two-time Ivy League champion, dictated the game from the start. The Big Red kept the fast-breaking Jayhawks grounded by turning it into a grind. Never intimidated by playing in one of college basketball's most famous gyms, the Big Red forced Kansas to grit one out at Allen Fieldhouse instead of running away with another easy win.

Ryan Wittman had 24 points, his outside shooting keeping Cornell in front well into the second half.

Trailing 58-52 with just over 8 minutes left, Kansas put together the kind of run No. 1 teams make. Turning up the pressure at both ends, the Jayhawks went on an 11-4 spurt to go up 63-60.

The Big Red weren't impressed.

Louis Dale scored on a backdoor cut, Cornell held and Jeff Foote powered his way inside, putting them up one with 50 seconds left.

Collins, of course, had the answer. He shrugged off a slap foul to complete a three-point play that put Kansas up 66-64, then went 3 of 4 from the free throw line over the final 25 seconds to seal it.

What a difference from last week.

Kansas took apart one of the nation's best defenses its last game, shooting 54 percent in a 32-point win over then-No. 18 Temple on Saturday in its first game against a ranked opponent.

Call this one the Owl hangover.

Sloppy on offense, occasionally absent-minded on defense, Kansas found itself in a fight against a school from a conference it hadn't lost to in 13 previous tries.

Early on, the Jayhawks played as if they were cold from the blizzard outside, shooting poorly, one rebound after another slipping through their hands.

The sloppy start had coach Bill Self looking for someone -- or something -- to take it out on.

First, he screamed at his players when they failed to block out on three straight shots. Self then took it out on the scorer's table, slamming his hand down after freshman Thomas Robinson lost the ball dribbling in traffic.

The officials were next; Self called a timeout after Alex Tyler scored on a drive and, in the same motion, walked across the court to scream: "That's a walk right in front of you!" That earned Self a technical foul and put the Big Red up 18-14 after Wittman hit one free throw.

If the technical was meant to inspire the Jayhawks, it didn't work.

Cornell kept draining shots, hitting Kansas with a barrage of three-point plays and 3-pointers. Foote hurt the Jayhawks early, hitting three shots inside before picking up his second foul. Wittman took over from there, using his blink-of-an-eye release to hit four 3-pointers for 15 points.

The Big Red shot 14 of 26 against one of the nation's best defensive teams and led 41-38, the first time Kansas has trailed at halftime this season.