LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson finished the fast break with an authoritative dunk.

The dunk had plenty of flair — a rare sight from the 7-foot-2 big man in transition.

Another rare sight ... the scoreboard inside Allen Fieldhouse read: Kansas 52, Oklahoma State 23. There were 55 seconds left in the first half.

Dickinson’s dunk capped a 21-2 run. The arena’s atmosphere was as loud — and positive — as it had been in weeks.

No. 23 Kansas dominated Oklahoma State 96-64 on Saturday afternoon. The Jayhawks (18-9, 9-7 Big 12) ended a two-game losing streak on the back of Dickinson (16 points, 11 rebounds) and guards David Coit and Zeke Mayo (15 points each).

Previewing the game on Friday, Kansas coach Bill Self had challenged his team to put the recent struggles behind them.

“The new season starts tomorrow,” Self said on Friday.

Perhaps there was some truth to that. The Jayhawks played one of their most dominant games of the season, with the walk-ons entering with around three minutes left.

Kansas led for 37-plus minutes and by as many as 39 points.

Also of note: The Jayhawks at halftime retired the jersey of former player and athletic director Arthur “Dutch” Lonborg. He was an all-conference football and basketball standout who played for the Jayhawks from 1917-1920.

Up next: KU hits the road to play Colorado on Monday. Tipoff for that game is 10 p.m. Central (ESPN).

Until then, here are three takeaways from KU’s win on Saturday …

David ‘Diggy’ Coit energizes Jayhawks

Kansas guard David Coit recently earned praise from Self for being one of the team’s vocal leaders.

Well, he should earn more praise after his performance vs. OSU.

The Jayhawks faced another slow start Saturday, but Coit came off the bench and provided energy.

And a scoring spark.

He made three 3-pointers over two minutes midway through the first half to help the Jayhawks create some separation.

Slowly, the rest of his teammates got going. Coit’s play led to the Jayhawks ending the first half on a 21-2 run.

He had nine points on three shots in only six first-half minutes. Coit continued his hot shooting in the second half, finishing the game with five 3-pointers made on nine attempts (55%).

A 3-point barrage from KU

Before playing Oklahoma State, the Jayhawks ranked No. 304 in 3-point rate and No. 171 in 3-point percentage (33.9%), so what unfolded was a pleasant surprise.

Kansas was blistering hot from deep. The Jayhawks shot 8 for 17 (47.1%) on 3-pointers … in the first half alone.

For the Jayhawks, the lack of 3-point attempts and makes has been an ongoing problem. So it was a great sign for KU to take advantage of an OSU defense that was slow to rotate and get out to shooters.

Kansas finished the game shooting 46% from deep. KU made 14 3-pointers. The Jayhawks shot 52.1% from the field.

Kansas basketball’s defense dominated

Oklahoma State’s offense isn’t very good, but the Jayhawks’ defense was still impressive.

The defense was in total sync for 40 minutes. Kansas did an excellent job closing off driving lanes, causing turnovers and forcing OSU to take bad shots.

The result? Oklahoma State shot an abysmal 36.7%. OSU also had 17 turnovers that the Jayhawks turned into 27 points.

Not to mention, KU dominated the glass. Kansas had a 20-rebound advantage (48-28).

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