KU, which jumped out to a 14-0 lead, shot 55-percent from the field. Kansas hit 9-of-19 three-pointers, including three treys from Jeremy Case, who also tallied a new career-high with 11 points.

Julian Wright and Brandon Rush led four Jayhawks in double figures with 13 points a piece.

“Northern Colorado is not a great team, but I thought we did some good things,” KU coach Bill Self said. “I wanted everyone going home for Christmans feeling good. I was realy pleased, not overly ecstatic, with how certain individuals did.

“Darnell played pretty good,” Self contined. “It was also nice to see Jeremy get in there and make some shots.”

Second Half Action

Darnell Jackson, who started the second in the front court alongside senior Christian Moody, added two more free throws to start the second half. His charities gave KU a 19-point lead in the first minute of the second half.

Matt Kline added a jumper for the Bears to make ths score 42-25.

Moody got a tip in to go 4-for-4 from the field.

Rush drove to the hoop to make the lead 51-27 with 16 minutes to play.

Box Score: KU vs. Northern Colorado Hear Bill: KU vs. Northern Colorado Photo Gallery: KU vs. Northern Colorado

Stephen Vinson made his first appearance of the game and got the ball to Sasha Kaun for his first basket.

Rush fed Julian Wright in transition. The KU freshman got the basket and was fouled, but he missed the free throw. KU leads 55-27.

Kaun followed a missed three by Vinson with a putback to take a 57-31 lead with a little over 13 minutes left.

After a rough first half, Kaun has comeback strong in the second half scoring three baskets.

Mario Chalmers knocked down a three-pointer from the right side to give KU a 62-33 lead.

Jackson matched his carerr high of eight points off a nifty pass from Wright 68-35 with and a half minutes to play.

But Wright picked up his fourth foul back the other way.

Wright followed that with a nice follow of a Jackson miss moments later.

Wright added his 13th points on a reverse lay-up to push him one point shy of his career high.

Jackson reached a new career-high with 10 points after scoring a lay-in after another feed from Wright in the paint.

Everybody has scored who has played for KU except for Vinson. But the Jayhawk senior has handed out five assists on the night.

Vinson got on the scoreboard with a free throw with a little more than three minutes left with KU ahead 78-56.

Stewart added an athletic tip back for a bucket as KU went ahead 80-58 with a minute left.

Case hit his third three of the game to help KU win 85-62 Thursday evening at Allen Fieldhouse.

Halftime

Kansas used a 14-0 run to easily jump ahead of winless Northern Colorado 40-23 after 20 minutes Thursday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

KU big man Darnell Jackson made his season debut after sitting out the first nine games because of NCAA violations. Jackson scored four points in the first half and grabbed a couple of rebounds.

The Jayhawks were led by Jeff Hawkins and Brandon Rush, who each scored eight points. Jeremy Case addded two three-pointers while Julian Wright scored seven.

Northern Colorado, which played pretty much even with KU after the first five minutes, shot just 25-percent from the field. Matt Kline led the Bears with seven points.

First Half Action

The Jayhawks opened up with an 11-0 run. Good shooting and tight defense are keeping KU on top.

The Bears have only one player on the board, Darren Jeffries, with 6 points.

Brandon Rush lead the scorers with 8 points in the first four minutes of the game.

Matt Klein has become the second N. Colorado player to score. The Bears scored three three-pointers. A shot and free throw by Kirk Archibeque have put the Bears within 7 points of Kansas.

A lob on the inbounds play from Jeff Hawkins to Julian Wright got the crowd fired up.

Darnell Jackson checked into the game at the six minute mark after his nine-game NCAA suspension was up. He immediately pulled down a rebound.

Coach Self has been keeping the rotation heavy, putting in Jeremy Case in the first half.

Three-point shooting is keeping Northern Colorado close to Kansas.

Pregame

Kansas University’s basketball team takes on Northern Colorado in a 7 p.m. contest at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas enters the Northern Colorado game having won three of its last four games and four of its last six. The Jayhawks are 3-1 in Allen Fieldhouse this season and 5-4 overall.

In its five victories, Kansas is winning by an average of 26.8 points per game. KU’s four losses have been by an average of 4.5 points. Northern Colorado brings a 0-13 record to Lawrence after its 63-52 setback at Northern Arizona Monday.

Freshman guard Brandon Rush paces KU in scoring at 12.9 points per game. Rush also leads the team in three-point field goal percentage at 54.5 and free throw percentage at 76.2. Sophomore centers Sasha Kaun and C.J. Giles are next in scoring at 11.9 and 9.7, respectively.

Giles leads Kansas in rebounding at 7.4 per game and blocked shots at 2.4 per contest. Kaun is just behind Giles in rebounding at 7.3 rpg. Senior guard Jeff Hawkins leads the team in assists with a 3.4 average and freshman guard Mario Chalmers leads the team in steals with 21 through nine games.

The game will mark the regular-season debut of sophomore forward Darnell Jackson who missed the first eight games of the season due to an eligibility issue. Jackson started one game last season and averaged two points and 1.7 rebounds. He will provide inside depth for the Jayhawks.