LAWRENCE, Kan. — BYU earned its biggest win of the Mark Pope era Tuesday night at Phog Allen Fieldhouse, stunning No. 7 Kansas 76-68 in a pivotal Big 12 game.

The Cougars (8-7, 20-8) trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half before roaring back to one of the toughest places to play in college basketball.

Kansas fell to 9-6 and 21-7 and lost at home for the first time this season.

The Cougars took advantage of KU shooting 19 of 31 from the free throw line, going 12 of 15 from the charity stripe themselves.

They were 13 of 34 from 3-point range, three days after going 6 of 31 from deep in a loss at Kansas State.

Here are 3 keys to the Cougars’ big win:

• For the third straight game, the Cougars got off to a bad start. They trailed 8-3 and 12-6, and to make matters worse, starters Noah Waterman and Trevin Neal picked up two quick fouls each in the first 10 minutes.

It was almost the third straight road game in which the Cougars had never played for the lead, joining their bids at Oklahoma State and Kansas State; However, the Cougars rebounded in the second half and took a 62-60 lead with 3:35 left when Dallin Hall hit a 3-pointer.

Kansas shot 15 of 30 from the field to take a 35-29 lead at halftime and led by as many as 12 points in the second. The Jayhawks finished shooting 40% from the field.

• BYU didn’t have an answer early for KJ Adams Jr. from KU, who scored his first nine points inside and got a couple Cougars into foul trouble. He was 4 of 7 in the first half, and 1 of 2 from the line. But he scored only two points in the second half.

Kansas big man Hunter Dickenson, a Big 12 player of the year candidate, had an average first half performance, by his standards, with seven points and six rebounds. He finished with 17 points, but was a lukewarm 6-of-15 from the free throw line.

Kansas’ poor free throw shooting cost the Jayhawks the game.

• The Cougars stuck to their game plan and made 3-pointers every chance they got. They were 6 of 19 from deep in the first half — Jackson Robinson was 2 of 4. They finished 13 of 34 from deep — after going 6 of 31 three days earlier at Kansas State.

Dallin Hall ran into foul trouble and was eventually fouled, but not before scoring 18 points. Robinson also had 18, while Noah Waterman had nine.