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LAWRENCE, Kan. — Tre White scored a season-high 23 points and No. 14 Kansas bounced back from a surprising defeat with a 69-56 victory over No. 5 Houston on Monday night.
Freshman star Darryn Peterson added 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting in 30 minutes for the Jayhawks (21-7, 11-4 Big 12), who fell six spots in this week's AP Top 25 following an 84-68 loss at home Saturday to unranked Cincinnati.
Bryson Tiller had 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Kansas, which handed the scuffling Cougars (23-5, 11-4) their third consecutive defeat — all against top-15 opponents. Melvin Council Jr. added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Kingston Flemings scored 16 on 6-of-18 shooting for Houston, which hadn't dropped three straight games since January 2017. The Cougars shot 32% from the field, including 5 of 24 (21%) from 3-point territory.
Kansas hasn't lost consecutive home games since the 1988-89 season, Roy Williams' first as coach. The Jayhawks are 52-1 on ESPN's Big Monday in Allen Fieldhouse, including 41-0 under coach Bill Self. Two weeks ago, they took down top-ranked Arizona at The Phog.
Kansas used a 12-0 run early in the second half to turn a two-point lead into a 49-35 advantage at the under-12 timeout. The margin stretched to 20 before Houston went on a 7-0 spurt, but the Cougars never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
The Jayhawks missed nine of their first 10 shots, going 8:28 without a field goal. But they closed the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 31-27 lead into the break.
Houston hosts Colorado on Saturday.
Kansas visits No. 2 Arizona on Saturday.
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