KU’s loss to Houston — at one crucial moment — was more unlikely than any in 15 years

One of the most critical junctures of Saturday’s Kansas basketball game against Houston came late in the first overtime period.

Kansas guard Dajuan Harris stepped to the free throw line. The Jayhawks led by six with 18 seconds remaining. Two foul shots would’ve made the margin eight.

Instead, the career 72.8% free throw shooter missed both.

Houston pulled off a miraculous comeback — stunning the Kansas players — eventually winning 92-86 in a double-overtime thriller Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

The loss was as unlikely as they come. KenPom’s data gave Kansas a 99.6% win expectancy when the Jayhawks had the ball up six with 18 seconds to play — what followed instead were missed free throws, a Houston 3-pointer, then a stolen inbounds pass and another 3-pointer.

That’s not all.

According to Jared Berson, a former ESPN Stats & Info employee, Houston’s eventual win was statistically the most unlikely in any of 1,487 games between AP top-25 teams over the last 15 seasons.

It was a brutal loss for the veteran Kansas squad. Big man Hunter Dickinson called it a “gut punch.”

“It feels terrible,” Dickinson said. “It feels like we just went to battle for however many minutes we were out there — did everything we were supposed to do to win — but just at the end didn’t make the right plays to finish it out.”

It was especially tough for sixth-year guard Harris, who had the chance to secure the game with the free throws. The same could be said for many other plays by several Jayhawks.

Kansas also led by six nearing the minute mark in regulation.

Still, Harris’ teammates had his back postgame. After all, the Jayhawks went 17-for-30 (56.6%) from the free throw line overall. KU committed three turnovers in the last minute of regulation and had an inbounds pass picked off at the end of overtime.

“Juan is a great point guard. He plays great most games, so we’re never tripping on him missing that free throw,” KU guard Rylan Griffen said. “Knowing him, he’s probably down on himself, but he shouldn’t be. He had 12 assists. In a game like this against Houston, a great defensive team, that’s something you can’t put into words on how incredible that is.

“He missed that free throw, but that wasn’t at all the reason why we lost, though. I know he’ll be back. I know he will get us (and) have our back.”

Aside from the missed free throws, Harris had a strong night. He scored eight points and posted 12 assists, five rebounds and two steals. He also defended Houston star LJ Cryer, who was held to nine points on 2-for-12 shooting with two turnovers.

“Dajuan did a good job on LJ,” Self said. “Dajuan had 12 assists, one turnover and guarded LJ Cryer that well. It’s pretty impressive, but he goes to the line and misses two. … I think that could be somewhat fatigue as well.”

Thus, it was a bittersweet performance from Harris, with most KU fans likely to remember the missed free throws on a day that was otherwise strong.

The Jayhawks, in the meantime, will hope to learn from their missteps down the stretch.

“We had the game won, it’s just a learning experience for later,” Griffen said. “Rather make that mistake now than in March. Good to see that we still have a lot work on.

“... The good thing is, it is February. So we’ve still got some time to learn (the) stuff we need to work on.”