The Spartans shot just 32 percent overall.

Junior guard Denzel Valentine and senior guard Travis Trice led MSU with 14 points each, and sophomore guard chipped in a double-double for Kansas with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

A 10-0 run helped Kansas take a 45-38 lead in the second half during a stretch that saw the Spartans struggle heavily on both ends of the court. The stretch included missed layups from senior forward Branden Dawson and Trice, continuing an odd trend of missed layups and dunks.

Kansas freshman forward Cliff Alexander converted a layup at the 7:33 mark, drawing sophomore forward Gavin Schilling into committing his fourth foul. The free throw gave Kansas its largest lead of the game, 54-46.

Sophomore guard Wayne Selden Jr. split a trip to the line with 4:22 remaining, but Ellis grabbed the offensive rebound to take away a pivotal offensive possession from the Spartans.

On MSU's next offensive possession, Trice missed an open court dunk, summing up MSU's second half offensive struggles in one play.

A sloppy turnover by Valentine led to a transition layup for sophomore guard Frank Mason III, giving Kansas a 59-52 lead with 2:43 on the clock.

After eight-consecutive missed 3-pointers, Trice broke the dry spell for MSU with a huge 3-pointer to cut the lead to three, 59-56, with 1:35 on the clock.

Dawson had an opportunity to cut the lead to one with around a minute remaining, but fittingly missed a layup at the rim to give possession back to Kansas, ending MSU's chances for a come-from-behind victory. 

Kansas took an early 5-0 lead in the first half after an and-1 conversion by Mason. Junior forward Matt Costello picked up two early fouls and sophomore forward Gavin Schilling picked up another shortly after subbing in for Costello early in the first half.

Valentine got the Spartans on the board with a 3-pointer at the 16:48 mark, and later split a rip at the line to tie the game at seven.

Kansas entered the bonus at the 15:02 mark after Alexander drew a foul on Wollenman. By this point, MSU's big men had five fouls combined.

Despite defensive struggles in the paint, MSU had little trouble converting scoring opportunities on offense. Valentine assisted a 3-pointer by junior guard Bryn Forbes to give MSU a 12-10 advantage, and a turnaround jumper from Dawson and steal and layup from Valentine made it a 16-12 lead going into the second media timeout.

Valentine hit another 3-pointer to give the Spartans their biggest lead of the half, 23-16, with 8:47 to play. But Kansas responded immediately, reeling off eight consecutive points to take a 24-23 lead at the 6:42 mark.

Dawson picked up two fouls in the last five minutes after staying foul-less during the first 15, and Wollenman eventually picked up his third, leading to playing time for Trevor Bohnhoff.

Kansas freshman guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer for Kansas, cutting the lead to one entering halftime.

MSU didn't carry any offensive momentum into the second half, as the Spartans missed 18 of their first 22 shots.