KU tops Oregon, 77-67

By Liz Heuben     Dec 13, 2003

Neither the No. 5-ranked Kansas Jayhawks nor the unranked Oregon Ducks had much luck shooting, but KU led for the majority of the game, holding off an Oregon comeback midway through the second half of a 77-67 victory Saturday at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.

The Jayhawks, shorthanded with Jeff Graves suspended for missing practice and Oregon native Michael Lee out with a collarbone injury, trailed 2-0 after a basket by Jay Anderson, but then scored the next eight points, including a three-pointer by J.R. Giddens and a basket by Wayne Simien. Giddens’ three-pointer, which came nearly four minutes in, was KU’s first field goal.

KU extended its lead to 16-5 nine minutes in behind another three-pointer by Giddens, a jumper by Keith Langford and a put-back by Giddens.

The Jayhawks (5-1) held off the Ducks (3-1) for the next few minutes, as KU led 38-27 at halftime.

The start of the second half was delayed because some lights at Kemper Arena went out, but KU kept its nine-point advantage, leading 43-34 five minutes into the second half.

The Jayhawks extended their lead to 13 points, 49-36, behind two three-pointers by Giddens, but Oregon closed the gap to two points with an 11-0 run, led by Luke Jackson.

David Padgett ended the run with his first basket, a turn-around hook shot nearly nine minutes in, and KU extended its lead back to 10 points on another shot down low by Padgett, a turn-around jumper by Simien, two driving layups by Aaron Miles and one by Langford.

KU kept extending its lead and gained its biggest advantage — 18 points — at 70-52 with less than four minutes remaining before holding on for the victory.

Giddens had 18 points, including 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range and seven rebounds, and Simien has 19 points and 14 rebounds. Miles had 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Langford had 15 points.

Moulaye Niang scored two points and grabbed five boards, David Padgett had four points and no rebounds, and Omar Wilkes had three points.

Jackson finished with 27 points and eight rebounds for the Ducks, Ian Crosswhite had 12 points and eight boards, and Aaron Brooks scored 12 points.

Anderson has two points for Oregon, Adam Zahn had three points, James Davis had four points and Andre Joseph finished with seven points.

The Jayhawks were 26-of-65 shooting, including 6-of-18 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, and were 19-of-27 shooting from foul line.

The Ducks were 21-of-60 from the field, including 6-of-29 shooting from long range, and 19-of-25 from the charity stripe.

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