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Kansas defeats Tennessee-Chattanooga, 69-55
- 7 p.m., Nov. 15, 2012
- Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS
FINAL: Ben McLemore leads KU to 69-55 win over Chattanooga
By Matt Tait
Ben McLemore's hot first half kept the Kansas University basketball team in it, and the rest of the offense caught up in the second half, as the Jayhawks gutted out a 69-55 victory over upset-minded Chattanooga at Allen Fieldhouse on Thursday night.
The Jayhawks trailed by as many as 10 in the first half and by eight — 36-28 — at the break, thanks largely to six first-half triples from Chattanooga's Farad Cobb.
In the second half, though, Travis Releford drew the defensive assignment and shut Cobb down, and the KU offense responded by pushing the tempo whenever possible for highlight buckets that raised the decibel level each time.
"The seniors played good the second half, awful first half, but really good second half," KU coach Bill Self said. "And Ben was terrific."
McLemore — Self said the freshman dislocated a finger twice in the second half but came back in after getting it popped back into place — led the Jayhawks with 25 points, and Elijah Johnson chipped in 18 as two of the three Jayhawks to reach double figures in scoring. Jeff Withey finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. McLemore turned in another nice night on the glass, finishing with eight rebounds.
KU hit 7 of 23 three-pointers, and Chattanooga finished the night 11 of 23.
"We had more fun in the second half thanks in large part to defending," Self said.
Here's a quick look back at some of the action.
The game turned when: Kansas responded to its largest deficit of the night — 42-30 — with an 19-1 run in the second half. The Jayhawks were more aggressive on defense and pushed the ball more to pick up easy buckets in transition. During this same stretch, UTC seemed to rely too much on the three-point shot, and the mounting misses only aided KU's surge.
Offensive highlight: Take your pick. During KU's furious rally at the beginning of the second half, there were several transition buckets and three-pointers that were big. But an alley-oop pass from Elijah Johnson to Ben McLemore with 15:22 to play pulled KU within three, ignited the Allen Fieldhouse crowd and came at just the right time for the home team. A little later, McLemore showed he could work the alley-oop from the other end, too, lobbing a perfect pass to Withey, who hammered it home and gave KU a 10-point lead with 6:50 to play.
Defensive highlight: Jamari Traylor's flying swat of Ronrico White with 17:52 to play in the first half sure was the most picturesque defensive play of the night, as Traylor hovered in the air and rocketed the ball out of bounds on his way down. Traylor had a big block the other night against Michigan State and came up with another one in the early going against Chattanooga.
Key stat: Chattanooga's 8-of-14 shooting from three-point land in the first half looked like the easy winner here, but the hot start merely made life more difficult for the Jayhawks, who turned up the defense in the second half and held UTC without a field goal make from the 18:05 mark until 5:30 remained in the game.
Up next: The Jayhawks will play next at 9 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19, when they take on Washington State at Sprint Center on ESPN2.
• KU coach Bill Self postgame audio
Live coverage (Ended November 15, 2012 at 9:14 p.m.)
Jaybate in reply to Brooksmd
Our young team had an emotional let down after the big MSU game, I guess. Looks like Ben had a big night, but not very efficient with 8-18.
Brooksmd in reply to Jaybate
Jarmari started and I thought he was doing ok but he disappeared for some reason.
Kooky
I'm happy about the win, but there's a ton of stuff that needs to be cleaned up. We don't win this game against conference opponents
Wissoxfan83
One great game for BMac, let's see him do so over and over again which I believe he can. But for now, it's just one great game.
Olahawk
Makes it even better and sweeter that Bmac was taken right out of the Mizzou back yard and was coveted by them
Lajayhawk
BMac really does have a true all-around game. He does everything from everywhere. Drains it from outside, drives EXTREMELY well. Rises up above the rim. Rebounds. Handles the rock. He's gonna be a great pro.
Melrank
For reference, Brandon averaged 13, with 6 boards, and 2 assists as a FR with no upper classmen help. I'm guessing BMAC will exceed these numbers on a team with 4 SRs. Time will tell, but he's got my vote early.
%20(135x158)_r48x48.jpg?5dda7ebe3a0a47b731bc018fa5259827222aab62 "Mmhawk")
B to the P
doesn't anyone have the soft touch over the top to a guy posting his man? they passed up about 3 of those looks last poss.
%20(135x158)_r32x32.jpg?d2c1f5c7792b87328dab406f67a66c2a17271970 "Mmhawk")
Ia4jayhawk
I think tonight will be good for our guys. Tuesday obviously stunk and I think they may have thought they could just show up tonight and win.
| UTC | 49 |
|---|---|
| Kansas | 63 |
Ljmhawk
guys releford's shot will come. he's not a great shooter as we know but we all know he can knock it down at times. remember he had 20 at OU last year? I think he needs to stick to the 15-foot jumpers though.
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