Taylor got mad and then proved he was up to the challenge.
He hit a three-pointer from the left wing, a runner along the right side of the lane, slammed home a runout dunk with two hands and then nailed another 3 from the top of the key to push the lead to 70-52 with 2:07 to play.
"Fortunately for us, he was able to match him basically basket for basket there down the stretch when we had to make a couple plays," Self said.
Unranked Oklahoma State teams had upset top five Kansas teams in 2008 and 2010, but it didn't happen in a third straight time in Gallagher-Iba Arena .
After rallying from a 19-point, second-half deficit to beat Missouri 87-86 in overtime Saturday, Self said he only had his players do stationary shooting for 15 minutes Sunday and about the same Monday before the game.
He called it as drained as he's ever felt during a season, and he figured his players were in the same boat.
"That's the most emotional regular-season game ever. A lot of pressure on the guys to win that game," Self said. "This was probably the hardest game that we've had to win this year, other than that one, because of the quick turnaround,"
The Cowboys were trying to upset a second top five opponent in the same season for the first time since 2003, but didn't have the services of freshman Le'Bryan Nash this time. Nash, who scored 19 of his career-high 27 points to spur a rally past then-No. 2 Missouri a month ago, was on the bench with a cast on his injured left hand.
Oklahoma State has also lost two point guards who decided to transfer plus another starter forward Jean-Paul Olukemi to a season-ending injury.
Still, the Cowboys hoped to send Page out as a winner on the second anniversary of an upset of the top-ranked Jayhawks.
Page hit seven three-pointers and scored 29 points in his final home game for the Cowboys (14-16, 7-10) and Brian Williams added 20 points, but Kansas was able to withstand every charge to close it out.
"Tyshawn Taylor just kept making big shots," Oklahoma State coach Page hit two three-pointers in the first three minutes, pushing him past Randy Rutherford to break the school record for career 3s, but Oklahoma State soon had a seven-minute field goal drought. Kansas took advantage to go on a 15-2 run featuring a two-handed, fast-break slam by Kevin Young and never trailed again.
The Jayhawks had an answer every time Oklahoma State seemed to be gaining momentum in the second half.
When Page hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to get Oklahoma State within 40-33, Conner Teahan answered at the other end and soon the lead had doubled. Jeff Withey's spinning layup pushed Kansas' lead to 52-38 with 9:49 remaining.
Williams then hit a three from the left wing, only for Taylor to duplicate it moments later from the right wing.
Page attempted one last bid at a dramatic rally, hitting three three-pointers and a jumper in a three-minute span to trim the deficit to 60-52 with 5:33 remaining, but that's when Taylor slammed the door.
"We couldn't get over that hump that we needed to get over," Page said. "It wasn't just one particular thing tonight. We just weren't in the flow of it. They took us out of our offense early and our defense wasn't the type of defense we know we're capable of playing."
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