LAWRENCE, Kan. – For a majority of the 16,300 fans that packed Allen Fieldhouse, there were some anxious moments. In fact, for 20 minutes there wasn't much for the big crowd to get excited about at all. Yale built an 11-point lead and was still in front of the No. 2 Jayhawks at halftime. The tide turned, though, in the second half as Kansas rallied to earn a 75-60 win over the pesky Bulldogs.
 
Yale, playing for the first time since a Dec. 11 victory over Quinnipiac, saw its two-game winning streak snapped. The Bulldogs head into the holiday break with a 7-6 overall record. Kansas (11-1) has won seven straight games.
 
KEY PLAYER
 
Yale held Kansas' national player of the candidate Hunter Dickinson in check. He scored only eight points, more than 11 below his season average. The Bulldogs also contained KJ Adams Jr, who tallied only six points, seven below his average. Kevin McCullar Jr, though, more than picked up the slack. He scored a career-high 34 points, 20 of which came in the second half when he was 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range.
 
YALE STATISTICAL LEADERS
 
Bez Mbeng and August Mahoney each scored 13 points to pace the Bulldogs. Mbeng added five assists and three steals, while Mahoney was 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Danny Wolf scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked four shots. John Poulakidas had eight points, Matt Knowling scored six points, and Jack Molloy contributed five points off the bench.
 
STRONG FIRST HALF
 
Yale shot 45 percent from the field and limited Kansas to 41 percent in the opening 20 minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers from Poulakidas and Wolf had the Bulldogs in front 25-14 midway through the half, forcing KU head coach Bill Self to take a timeout. The Jayhawks slowly chipped away at Yale's advantage, and the Bulldogs' lead was 33-32 at the break.
 
TURNING POINT
 
The game was still tight midway through the second half and was tied at 41 with 13:48 remaining. Kansas, though, used a 13-4 run over the next six minutes to seize control.
 
KEY STAT
 
The Bulldogs entered the night averaging just 9.8 turnovers per game, but the Jayhawks' defense forced them into 16, which Kansas turned into 23 points. Yale scored only seven points off 12 Kansas turnovers.
 
QUOTING JONES
 
"I thought it was a good, hard-fought game," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "We didn't handle pressure well in the second half and that was the difference. We did a nice job on defense against Dickinson. We did a nice job on everyone but McCullar. He hurt us and [Nicolas] Timberlake [13 points] off the bench hurt us a little bit."
 
NOTES
 
• Wolf matched his career high with four blocks. He also had four earlier this season against Rhode Island. Wolf scored in double figures for the 10th straight game.
 
• The Bulldogs outscored the Jayhawks 30-28 in the paint.
 
• Yale had the lead for 15:23 of the first half and 23:16 of the game's 40 minutes.
 
• There was a nice contingent of Yale fans in attendance, including twins Caleb and Nick Holmes, both Class of 2008, who were four-year standouts. The brothers, who are from nearby Olathe, Kan., hosted a dinner for the team and local Yale alums on Thursday. Other former Bulldogs spotted at the game were Brandon Rose '09 and Javier Duren '15.
 
• Kansas is now 152-6 in Allen Fieldhouse under head coach Bill Self.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
 
The Bulldogs are off until Dec. 30 when they play at Santa Clara. Tipoff is 7 p.m. EST from Northern California.