If Kansas University’s men’s basketball team is going to win without senior star Wayne Simien, it’s going to need seniors and freshmen to step up during his absence.
The Jayhawks got just that Wednesday against the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers as seniors Keith Langford and Aaron Miles and youngsters Alex Galindo and Russell Robinson put up big numbers in a 73-62 KU victory in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
Langford opened the game with a three-pointer and finished with a team-high 21 points. He also added seven rebounds and six assists.
Miles finished with nine assists, taking over the Big 12 career assist record with a pass to C.J. Giles late in the first half. He also added nine rebounds and six points.
Galindo and Robinson picked up some of Simien’s scoring slack, netting 14 and 12 points, respectively. Galindo added six rebounds in 17 minutes.
Part of the contributions of Galindo and Robinson came because KU head coach Bill Self chose to go with a lineup of four perimeter players for much of the game because the freshmen Jayhawk big men did little to stand out.
Darnell Jackson, who started in place of Simien, sat out much of the first half after picking up his second foul four minutes in. He also missed much of the second half after being whistled for his third foul early in the period.
C.J. Giles finished with six points and four rebounds in 15 minutes, but also had foul trouble. Sasha Kaun had no points and no rebounds in three minutes.
Christian Moody played most of the second half as KU’s only post player. He finished with nine points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
KU held a 5-0 lead after Langford’s three-pointer and a jumper by J.R. Giddens, but Wisconsin-Milwaukee took a 7-6 a few minutes in and led 10-9 a few moments later.
Kansas regained the lead, 11-10, on a basket by Aaron Miles that started a 23-7 run that gave the Jayhawks a 32-17 lead midway through the half.
Milwaukee-Wisconsin scored the next eight points, though, closing to within seven points, 32-25, before KU closed the half with a 10-4 spurt.
The Jayhawks never led by fewer than six points in the second half en route to the victory.
KU’s win could have been a blow-out if not for Ed McCants, who scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 6-of-12 shooting from three-point range.
Adrian Tigert added 13 points, nine rebounds and four steals for the Panthers. Derrick Ford has seven points, Joah Tucker had seven points and 10 boards, and Chris Hill added three points, five rebounds and five assists.
Derrick Wimmer scored three points, Jason McCoy had two points and Nick Hansen had a point for Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Giddens finished with five points and four boards for KU, and Michael Lee added two rebounds.
Kansas finished 26-of-58 shooting, including 8-of-17 from three-point range, and 13-of-24 from the foul line. The Jayhawks turned the ball over 13 times.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee finished 24-of-62 shooting, including 11-of-32 from long distance, and 3-of-11 from the charity stripe. The Panthers turned the ball over 13 times.
All stats are unofficial.
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