The Jayhawks got a handful from the unranked Villanova Wildcats in the first half, broke away midway through the second half and held off a late charge by Villanova before winning, 86-79, Friday at Allen Fieldhouse.
J.R. Giddens opened the game with an alley-oop from Aaron Miles, but Allan Ray answered with a three-pointer on Villanova’s next possession. Curtis Sumpter then sunk a three-pointer for the Wildcats, giving them a 6-2 lead.
Keith Langford tied the game at 6-all with a free throw and then a three-pointer of his own four minutes in, and David Padgett gave KU the lead again with an alley oop.
Randy Foye tied the game with a jumper, but Aaron Miles answered with a three-pointer. KU battled to a 13-12 lead before going on a 9-0 run — all by Wayne Simien.
Villanova closed to within four points, 24-20, on a bakset by Ray, but KU then went on a 9-3 spurt, again extending its lead to 10 points, 33-23. The Wildcats roared back with a 15-5 run over the last few minutes of the half, tying the game at 38-all on a three-pointer by Ray as time expired.
The teams battled back and forth early in the second half, with KU using a 7-0 run to take a 50-43 lead five and a half minutes in. The Jayhawks later used a 12-0 lead to take a 66-48 lead.
Kansas led by as many as 16 points, 72-56, 13 minutes in, but Villanova closed to within five points, 82-77, with less than a minute left before the Jayhawks held off the Wildcats.
Simien had 23 points and four rebounds for the Jayhawks, Langford had 24 points and three assists, and Padgett had 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
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Miles had 10 points, five boards and five assists, and Giddens had seven points. Jeff Hawkins had seven points and three fouls before fouling out, and Jeff Graves had eight rebounds and two assists.
Michael Lee, who suffered a broken collarbone nearly two months ago, wore a suit in the first half, wore his jersey and warm-ups on the bench after halftime, but didn’t play.
Ray had 22 points and five rebounds for Villanova, Sumpter had 18 points and five boards, and Foye had 11 points before fouling out. Mike Nardi had 16 points, and Andreas Bloch had 10 points before fouling out. Jason Fraser had two points for Villanova.
Kansas was 23-of-51 shooting from the field, 5-of-11 shooting from three-point range and 35-of-41 from the free throw line. Villanova was 25-of-68 shooting, including 13-of-35 shooting from long range. The Wildcats were 16-of-19 shooting from the charity stripe.
All stats unofficial