Kansas shifted into cruise control with a little over three minutes to play in the scrimmage against Washburn. Safely up by 33 points, the starters came out and the reserves went in. One player who did not contribute in the last 13 mintues was Jeff Hawkins, who left with the trainer for the lockers complaining of chest pains. He did not return but Coach Roy Williams said he was fine after the game.
Even walk-ons Stephen Vinson, Christian Moody and Brett Olson saw action. Vinson was the only Jayhawk not to score.
Kansas missed the rebounding services of Wayne Simien, who sat out tonight’s scrimmage due to tendonitis in his right ankle. Moulaye Niang got the start in his place, and contributed seven points and three rebounds.
Two minutes into the second half of Kansas’ second scrimmage, and Roy Williams had his first technical foul of the year. It was not immediately clear what set the coach off, but he shared a heated exchange with one of the officials just as a Washburn foul shot swished home.
After opening up a big early lead, Kansas let Washburn keep it close – for a few minutes. The Jayhawks streaked out to a 13-2 advantage, but with nine minutes left in the first half the Ichabods pulled to within six. After a timeout, KU regained command of the game, pulling ahead by double-digits. A late flurry of scoring by both sides just before halftime resulted in a 20-point Jayhawk lead.
Washburn tried to come back, but nearing the end of the first half, their shooting percentage fell to below 40 percent. After they closed to within six points, they only scored nine more points in the first half’s final nine minutes.
This game marks the return of former Jayhawk John Crider, now a senior at Washburn. At halftime, he had four points, three rebounds, three assists and one foul. Washburn was led by Ryan Murphy, who had 25 points and five boards.
Nick Collison paced Kansas with 24 points and 15 rebounds, and had a double-double by halftime. Keith Langford scored 15, Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Miles each added a dozen. Jeff Hawkins added eight, Bryant Nash and Niang each had seven, as did Jeff Graves in his first “official” start. Graves recently passed KU’s physical requirements.
Also scoring for Kansas were Christian Moody with four, Michael Lee with three and Brett Olson with two.
As a team, Kansas is out-rebounded Washburn 41-31, and shot 63 percent from the floor.
Next up for Kansas is a rematch against Holy Cross, next Tuesday at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN as part of the preseason NIT tournament.