KU sophomore big man Sasha Kaun led the Jayhawks, which recorded their first back-to-back victories of the season, with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

“We didn’t shoot great,” said Kaun, of the Jayhawks, which fired at a 37.9-percent clip (22-of-58) from the field. “It is frustrating a little, but if you don’t make a shot, then you can go get a stop.”

The Jayhawks (5-4) came up with several defensive stands. Plus it didn’t hurt that Pepperdine shot just 29.3-percent.

“To win games on the road in our conference, there are going to be games where the score is going to be in the 50’s and 60’s,” Self said. “Those are the games you have to grind out and maybe tonight will prepare us for those types of games.”

Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo

Self, whose squad jumped out to a 25-11 lead in the first nine minutes, said he thought his team was carrying over the confidence it had created in the last week of practices.

“Played great the first nine minutes, then went through a stretch where we played like we were out there on the island,” Self said. “When you have stretches like that, sometimes you don’t turn it around and get it right back. We didn’t get it back all game.”

Kansas did outrebound the Waves 56-30, a fact not lost on Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal.

“When they missed, they got as many offensive rebounds as we got defensive rebounds,” Westphal said. “We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot like we have all year.”

Box Score: KU vs. Pepperdine Hear Bill: Pepperdine postgame comments Photo Gallery: KU vs. Pepperdine

Pepperdine shot under 40 percent for the sixth time this season and the Waves scored their fewest points since a 42-38 win over Santa Clara in the 1975-76 season, which was before the shot clock era.

Pepperdine’s 43 points were the lowest offensive output against the Jayhawks by an NCAA Division I opponent since a 77-43 victory over Southwest Missouri State — now Missouri State — on Dec. 30, 2000.

Sophomore Russell Robinson scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Brandon Rush added nine points, while Christian Moody had eight, including two three-pointers.

“I think today we did a good job defensively. I think offensively we are struggling a little bit,” Robinson said. “We have some kinks that we need to work out. It was a little tough out there.”

Pepperdine was led by Tashaan Forehan-Kelly, who scored nine points, while Willie Galick added eight.

Self, who did not play freshmen Micah Downs or Julian Wright in the second half, said he can’t keep using youth as an excuse.

“The freshmen have to become sophomores pretty quick,” said Self, whose squad had 18 turnovers to 13 assists. “We need to have all four playing at a level where they are doing things to help our team win instead of doing things to help themselves. I did not think that was the case in the first half.”

Southern Cal transfer Rodrick Stewart, who learned he definitely was eligible for second semester at 3 p.m. Monday, entered his first KU game with 1:24 remaining.

“Rodrick’s not been out there in situations. It wasn’t a 20-point game. With five minutes left, we were doing things to win the game,” Self said when asked about Stewart’s minutes, adding, “I was hoping everybody could have played more.”

Second Half Action

Pepperdine opened the second half with a quick basket and free throw, but C.J. Giles and Sasha Kaun combined for three charities of their own.

Gerrity hit a three to cut the score at 36-26 and a careless turnover forced KU coach Bill Self to call a timeout three minutes into the second half.

Willie Galick cut the game into single digits with a jumper from the baseline.

Kansas, which missed its first seven field goals in the second half, finally scored when Brandon Rush nailed a three from the right side with 15:42 to go in the game.

Mario Chalmers came up with a steal, but Rush couldn’t keep the handle on the ball for a break-a-way basket. But Christian Moody followed with a sweet pass to Kaun for a dunk on transition to give KU a 41-28 lead and brought the Jayhawk faithful to their feet.

Kansas holds a 36-19 rebounding advantage.

Galick scored his eighth points on a jumper that bounced in from the baseline to keep Pepperdine within pace.

Kaun hit a free throw with 12:11 to go to put KU up by a dozen.

Chalmers hit a jumper from the free-throw line to put KU up 44-30, but Tomas Pranciliaskas hit a three to keep the contest to 11 points for Pepperdine.

KU, which started the game hot, is now shooting just 37 percent, while Pepperdine is hitting at 31.

Gregg Barlow hit a jumper to cut to nine points.

Rush hit a free throw, but Pepperdine’s Derick Grubb nailed a three to cut the Waves deficit to 45-38 with nine and a half minutes to go. The Waves are on an 8-1 run.

KU had a lane violation on a free throw attempt by Jeff Hawkins, but the senior came back on the next trip and added a lay-up for the 47-38 score.

Kaun missed another shot in the lane, but Giles tipped the ball home for the 49-38 lead with 6:20 to go in the second half.

Chalmers hit a pair of free throws to put KU ahead 51-39 with 5:25 to play.

Robinson scored his first basket of the second half on a runner in the lane to put KU up 14.

A leaner by Gerrity was good, but Kaun finally got one to go in.

The sophomore leads all scorers with 14, and KU leads the Waves by 14 with a little more than three minutes to play.

Robinson hit a free throw to put him in double digits. The sophomore also has seven rebounds.

Kaun threw down a big dunk off a pass from Rush to give KU a 58-41 lead with under two minutes to play Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kaun hit a pair of free throws to give him 18 points. He also lead KU with 12 rebounds.

Transfer Roderick Stewart checked into make his KU debut.

Moody hit his second three of the game and season with under a minute left to put KU up 63-41.

KU defeated Pepperdine 63-43.

Halftime

Despite going nearly five minutes without a score, committing 10 turnovers, or hitting just 4-of-11 free throws, Kansas still led Pepperdine 33-19 after 20 minutes Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

KU’s Russell Robinson led the Jayhawks with seven points, while Brandon Rush and Sasha Kaun each tallied five. Kansas outrebounded the Waves 27-15.

As has been the case this season for Pepperdine, the Waves again suffered from poor shooting, hitting at just 26.9-percent (7-of-26). Pepperdine was led by Tashaan Forehan-Kelly, who scored eight points.

Kansas shot 46.4-percent from the field and had eight assists on 13 field goals.

First Half Action

Kansas won the tip but turned the ball over on an entry pass inside.

A badly missed shot by Pepperdine gave the ball back to the Jayhawks.

KU freshman Brandon Rush got the Jayhawks on the board first with a jumper from the top of the key.

Pepperdine answered with a three-pointer by Tashaan Forehan-Kelly for the 3-0 lead.

The Waves went up 5-2 on a tip in.

Sasha Kaun hit a lone free throw to cut into the Pepperdine deficit.

But Jarrad Henry, who went to Bishop Miege, followed with a slam down low.

Rush came back the other way and hit a long three to make the score 7-6 with 17:51 to go in the half.

Russell Robinson gave KU a 9-7 lead with a three-pointer from the left wing.

With 16:31 to go C.J. Giles flipped a pass to Kaun for an uncontested slam.

Chase Griffin dove for a loose ball and got a timeout to retain possession with a little under 16 minutes left in the half.

Robinson looked more like Giles when he battled for a loose ball underneath the basket after a Giles miss from outside and went up strong with a putback to give KU a 13-7 with a little more than 15 minutes left in the half.

Robinson made another impressive move with a drive to the basket for a bucket. Robinson has seven early points.

Giles followed with a jumper inside the 14-minute mark and KU continued its 14-0 run.

Willie Galick ended the Jayhawks’ scoring sput with a turnaround shot in the lane on the ensuing possession.

Julain Wright, who just entered the game, hit a turnaround jumper from the baseline to give KU a 19-9 lead with 12 1/2 minutes to play in the first half.

Mario Chalmers knocked in a of free throw with 11:56 to go to put the Jayhawks up by nine, 20-11.

Wright threw a lead pass a little too far in front of a streaking Christian Moody that went out of bounds.

But Moody followed that with his first three-pointer of the season, knocking down the long bomb from the top of the key.

Chalmers came up with a steal then was rewarded by senior Stephen Vinson with the ball and proceeded to roll in a reverse for the 25-11 advantage.

Chalmers grabbed another loose ball but missed two free throws. Moody, however, tipped the ball out and Micah Downs came up with the ball and was fouled in the lane. Downs missed both but Moody again tipped the ball out. Finally the possession ended when Wright made an ill-advised turnover.

KU has seven assists on 10 baskets.

Henry hit one free throw for Pepperdine to make the score 25-12 with a little over seven minutes remaining.

Giles missed another free throw and KU is just 2-of-9 from the line tonight.

Forehan-Kelly got a basket to go in off the backboard and was fouled with 6:04 to go in the half. His free throw cut KU’s lead to 25-15.

Kaun missed a short hook but followed it with an aggressive rebound and putback to stop KU’s scoring drought.

The two teams have combined for 15 turnovers, eight by KU.

Gerrity hit a spinning shot to cut the score to 27-17.

Wright hit a pair of free throws to put KU up 29-17 with 2:23 left in the half.

Robinson fed Moody on a nice pass underneath for an easy basket.

Kelly hit two free throws to give him eight points and cut KU’s lead to 31-19.

Wright threw another pass away and KU has 10 turnovers in the contest.

Kaun scored on a lay-in with a little over half a minute left.

A miss by Pepperdine in the final seconds gave KU a 33-19 halftime lead.

Kansas starters again included forwards C.J. Giles, Sasha Kaun, Brandon Rush, and guards Russell Robinson and Jeff Hawkins.

Pepperdine countered with forwards Tashaan Forehan-Kelly and Willie Galick, big man Jarrad Henry and guards Michael Gerrity and Chase Griffin.

Pregame

After a nine-day lay-off, Kansas University’s basketball team returns to action tonight in a 6 p.m. contest against Pepperdine at Allen Fieldhouse.

“This will be a great time for us to run together some hopefully very productive practice sessions, which we haven’t had consistently since we left to go to Maui,” said KU coach Bill Self.

The Waves (2-6) are the Jayhawks (4-4) first opponent of a five-game homestand that concludes with a Jan. 7 contest against Kentucky.

Pepperdine snapped its four-game losing streak with a 92-86 victory over Long Beach State on Saturday. Freshman guard Michael Gerrity leads the Waves with 16.1 points per game. Tashaan Forehan-Kelly is next in scoring with 14.6 ppg.

Freshman Chris Oakes paces the Waves in rebounds with a 7.6 average per contest. Last year, the Waves finished tied for fifth in the West Coast Conference after posting 17-14 overall and 6-8 league records.

“For our team, our biggest weakness is inability to shoot well. We’re shooting horribly,” said Pepperdine coach and former NBA All-Star Paul Westphal, whose team is playing its fifth road game out of its last six contests.

“We can’t shoot ourselves out of it. Points are way down. I’ve never seen anything like it. We have 23 at halftime sometimes. We don’t want to play that way. We just can’t shoot.”

Kansas is coming off a 69-56 win against Pac-10 foe California in the American Century Investments Shootout in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 10. The Jayhawks are 3-2 in their last five games with the two losses coming by a combined five points.

KU’s top seven scorers are freshmen and sophomores. Kansas has nine players who average 14 minutes or more per contest. Freshman guard Brandon Rush leads the team with 13.4 points per game, ranking 17th in the Big 12 (tops among league freshman). Sophomore center Sasha Kaun is next in scoring at 11.1 ppg and is second on the team with 6.8 rebounds per game – good for 11th in the conference. Sophomore center C.J. Giles is scoring 10.3 points per contest and his 7.1 rebounds per outing leads KU and are tied for eighth in the conference. Giles’ 2.38 blocked shots per game are second in the Big 12.

Sophomore transfer Rodrick Stewart will make his KU debut against Pepperdine. Stewart is a guard who transferred from Southern California a year ago.

“I’ve been thinking about this date for some time now. It’s coming up fast, real fast now,” Stewart said.

“I think the hardest part (of sitting out) is just sitting there on the bench. You cheer for the team, but in the back of your head, it’s, ‘Man, I wish I could be out there.’ There’s nothing you can do except keep cheering the team on every day.”