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Jackson's 20 points, Robinson's eight swipes pace KU in 86-53 dusting of Yale

By Ryan Greene

Originally posted 06:48 p.m., December 29, 2007
Updated 08:56 p.m., December 29, 2007

Final, KU wins 86-53

Russell Robinson fell one short of tying the school record set by Aaron Miles, but set a new personal best in swipes with eight, as KU shut down Yale from start to finish. The senior point guard also added five assists to the effort. Darnell Jackson led four Jayhawks in double figures with 20 points, adding five rebounds to go with it. Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers each scored 11 for the Jayhawks, while Brandon Rush added 10.

KU improves to 13-0 on the season with two non-conference tilts left before the Big 12 opener in two weeks against Nebraska. The Jayhawks are off until next Saturday, when they'll play on the road at Boston College in an 11 a.m. central time tip.

2:08, second half, KU leads 82-46

Russell Robinson recorded his seventh steal of the game after the timeout, matching his career high in that department. He fed Darrell Arthur, who was fouled on his way up in transition. Arthur swished a pair of free throws, giving him 10 points on the night.

Tyrel Reed scored his first points of the game on a mid-range pull-up jumper just outside of the five-minute mark, and the basket came on the heels of a Darrell Arthur free throw. Russell Robinson capped the mini-run with an up-and-under layup, giving him four points to go with his host of steals and assists.

Rod Stewart scored again on a feed from Jeremy Case in the open floor with just over three minutes to go, and a substitution timeout by Yale brought Conner Teahan into the game for KU with just garbage time left to be played and KU ahead by nearly 40 points.

7:44, second half, KU leads 70-38

Darnell Jackson continued to expand his offensive pallette, slipping in a turnaround baby hook out of a full timeout to score a bucket and give himself 18 points on the night. Jackson sccored his 19th and 20th points of the game after Cole Aldrich kept alive a miss of Jackson’s. Jackson returned the favor, ripping down Aldrich’s misfire and slipping it in.

Eric Plato came back down to hit a three for Yale - his second of the half - and make himself the first Bulldog in double figures with 10 points. Aldrich came back down to score inside and give himself five points on the night.

11:22, second half, KU leads 63-29

After Sasha Kaun ripped down a defensive board in traffic out of the timeout, Sherron Collins hit a much-needed three-pointer from the left wing on the other end to make it a 31-point game. Mario Chalmers then became the second Jayhawk to score in double figures, following a crash to the floor with two hit free throws, giving him 11 points.

Collins hit another three at the 13:23 mark to put KU up 61-27 and give himself eight points. Rodrick Stewart scored his first points of the game after that to keep KU up by 24 on a mid-range jumper.

15:45, second half, KU leads 52-24

Darnell Jackson produced one of the season’s finest highlights so far in scoring the second half’s first points. He forced a steal at midcourt, and after doing the salsa to keep his balance while dribbling the ball, hit an up-and-under layup while drawing contact, earning a huge ovation from the home crowd. It grew even louder after he hit the free throw. His tip-in follow of a KU miss moments later gave him 15 points on the night.

Brandon Rush hit his first three of the game on KU’s next trip down, and that was followed up by a huge blocked shot by Darrell Arthur, pinning a Yale layup against the glass. Ross Morin then scored two for Yale, but the bucket was outdone by a lobbed pass from Mario Chalmers to Brandon Rush, who threw it home with two hands.

Halftime, KU leads 42-19

Brandon Rush scored his first points of the game on a pull-up jumper at the free throw line with 2:39 to go in the half, making him the eighth Jayhawk to score so far. Then, after a 30-second timeout by Bill Self, he tipped in a lobbed throw from Russell Robinson, putting KU up 41-19.

A Cole Aldrich free throw would go as the final point of the half. Darnell Jackson lead KU in the first half with 10 points, while Mario Chalmers was 3-of-5 from long range in notching nine points. Darrell Arthur had eight for the Jayhawks, who were 18-of-35 from the floor and held Yale to a 7-of-24 showing.

3:56, first half, KU leads 35-15

Darnell Jackson hit two from the left elbow out of the full timeout, and on the Jayhawks’ next trip, Sherron Collins got into the scoring column with an acrobatic two under the hoop. Jackson then got himself into double digits with a soaring one-handed dunk in transition to make it a 20-point contest. A Cole Aldrich two-handed dunk kept the hits coming, 35-13.

Aldrich was whistled for a foul while attempting a blocked shot on the next Yale possession, sending the game into the half’s final full break.

7:34, first half, KU leads 27-11

Darnell Jackson tried to open up the scoring once again after the game hit another scoreless run, swooping down the baseline off a feed from Brandon Rush, only to get fouled on his way up, missing the bucket. He was also empty on both charity looks. Darrell Arthur followed it on the next possession by missing on a drive down the key off the glass.

Yale continued to slowly chip back in. A minute after Porter Braswell slipped in two in transition, Paul Nelson threw home a follow-up dunk to make it 18-9. But Arthur scored on the next trip down off the glass and was fouled in the process. He missed the accompanying free throw.

Jackson made up for the missed free throws a couple of moments later, finishing off a lobbed pass from Sherron Collins with two hands. Mario Chalmers then hit his third three of the game to put KU up 25-11 and give himself nine points. Jackson flushed home two more at the 7:39 mark to put KU up 27-11 and force Yale into using its second 30-second timeout of the game. A Yale turnover moments later took the game into its third full break.

11:57, first half, KU leads 18-5

Darrell Arthur hit a pair of free throws out of the timeout to give himself four early points and put KU up 11-2. Mario Chalmers followed it up with his second three of the game, coming on the heels of a backcourt traveling call against Eric Flato, forced by Russell Robinson.

Sasha Kaun, who entered the game during a break with Sherron Collins, got his first points by muscling his way inside against an overmatched Yale frontcourt. Darnell Jackson made it an 18-4 game by finishing off a Mario Chalmers dish underneath after Chalmers missed a three earlier in the possession off a nifty feed from Sherron Collins.

15:45, first half, KU leads 9-2

KU controlled the game’s opening tip after a pinball situation off the foot of Yale’s Eric Flato. Flato, though wound up picking up a loose ball on the KU end, sending it with the Bulldogs the other way.

After a shot clock violation sent the ball the Jayhawks’ way, Darrell Arthur opened the gamge’s scoring inside. Caleb Holmes matched it on the other end, but Mario Chalmers quickly responded with a corner three, giving KU a 5-2 edge two minutes in.

Russell Robinson ended a lull in the game a minute later with a steal at midcourt, capped with an easy layin to give the Jayhawks a five-point advantage. The crowd woke up after KU forced yet another Yale turnover. This time, Brandon Rush in the open floor found Darnell Jackson for a vicious two-handed throwdown.

Pregame

After a rare few days off in season, the Kansas men's basketball team returns to the floor tonight with a chance to shake off any Christmas rust against a visitor from the Ivy League.

Yale - bringing 6-foot-6 twins and Olathe South alums Nick and Caleb Holmes - enters Allen Fieldhouse with a 3-6 mark on the season, and on paper in every way is an underdog tonight against the nation's No. 3 team. The 12-0 Jayhawks last played a week ago, slashing Miami (Ohio) 78-54 in front of a larger-than-usual holiday break crowd. The team then took a few days off for Christmas and is now back at it. After tonight, the Jayhawks travel to Boston for a weekend showdown in Chestnut Hill against BC, Saturday at 11 a.m.

So far this season, KU has established itself as one of the nation's most balanced teams on both sides of the ball. The Jayhawks are again one of the country's highest-scoring squads, averaging 83.2 points per contest, with five players averaging in double figures in the scoring column. Defensively, KU is holding opponents to a field goal percentage of 38.3 and allowing just 58.8 points per game.

The Bulldogs' last outing was a 76-67 loss to Boston University, but that was 18 days ago. Yale has three players averaging in double figures in the point department, led by senior guard Eric Flato's 12.2 per game.