Otherwise, both Jayhawks would have had or tied career bests by halftime in Kansas’ two preseason games.

Last Wednesday it was Kaun who put up 23, Wednesday it was Giles.

The 6-11, Seattle, Wash., native’s 24 points (at least half a dozen buckets came on hard dunks) fueled the Jayhawks 73-47 victory over Pittsburg State at Allen Fieldhouse.

“It’s it in me,” said Giles, of being able to score in double figures.

Had the game counted Giles would have bested his career-high of 10 from last year’s Kentucy came by 14 points.

“But anybody can really score. Last time Sasha had 23,” continued Giles, who added seven rebounds and three blocked shots. “Mario (Chalmers) can. Julian (Wright) can.

“We’re so different as a team that anybody can put a bunch of points up. I’ll just do as much as I can. It’s not scoring as much points as it is, like getting 10 rebounds, or stopping my man, or even giving five fouls if I have to. I guess everyone is just going to give anything just to win.”

Kansas, which shot 44.6-percent from the field, didn’t have another scorer reach double digits against the Gorillas.

KU got nine points from freshman Julian Wright, and eight from Darnell Jackson, who also grabbed seven rebounds in his first action of the season. Jeff Hawkins had a solid all-around evening as he contributed six points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Kaun added seven.

“I thought we did some good things,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We didn’t have any energy tonight compared to the other night: none. It’s contagious. We played like a tired team, which we may be, and that might be my fault because we have been practicing really long the past four days.

“All in all, there were some positive things, but there were many things that were just stale,” continued Self, whose squad scored the fewest points by a KU team in any recorded regulation-length exhibition game.

“We could have scored more points had we shown anything, but we tried to hide some things because we are trying to steal a couple baskets against Idaho State or in Maui.”

Pitt. State, which shot just 30.8-percent and was led by in-state player Edward Morris’ nine points, couldn’t steal any momentum from the Jayhawks.

“They are very athletic, very energetic and big, and those are three pretty hard combinations to go against,” PSU coach Gene Iba said. “I’ve told several people that it will take some time because they are young, but if this group were to stay around for the length of time that you are supposed to stay around, it will be as good of a team as there has ever been, at least in my recollection.”

Hear Bill: Pittsburg State postgame comments Photo Gallery: KU vs. Pittsburg State KU vs. Pittsburg State box score

Iba said his young squad would also get better. Last year’s All-American guard Eddie Jackson struggled, scoring just six points on 2-of-7 shooting.

“I just wasn’t on my game tonight, I feel like I can score against anybody and I just didn’t do it tonight,” Jackson said. “We don’t see teams like that very often. They are younger than we are, and I feel like as time goes on they will be very competitive in the Big 12.”

Kansas, which hit just 19-of-33 (57.6-percent) free throws last week, connected on 19-of-29 (65.5-percent) charities against Pitt. State.

PSU, which committed 24 turnovers compared to just six assists, was outscored 34-8 in points in the paint.

Second Half Action

C.J. Giles took over where he left off in the first half, hitting an open jumper to give him a game-high 13 points in the first minute of the second half.

However, a quick foul, Gile’s third, forced him back to KU’s bench.

But KU fans had nothing to fear because Jackson quickly came in and added a couple of boards and big putback.

A three-point play at the 15:42 mark by Jeff Hawkins fueled KU’s 8-0 run and gave the Jayhawks a 48-26 lead with 15:42 to play.

Senior forward Christian Moody, the only returning starter from last year’s KU squad, got on the scoreboard with a free throw.

A steal from Stephen Vinson led to a three by Mario Chalmers to end KU’s drought from the outside and also put Kansas back up by 20.

Kaun, who led all scorers in KU’s first game, has seven thanks to a free throw and a slam.

Pitt. State’s Edward Morris, a junior from Wichita, thought he would get his second straight slam. But Giles, who had an equally impressive swat earlier in the game, tossed the ball out of bounds.

On the other end, PSU thought they could defend Giles by pulling his jersey. The big man simply stepped back and hit another mid-range jumper. Giles’ bucket gives him 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting (8-of-10 free throw. KU leads 58-36 with under nine minutes remaining.

Brandon Rush couldn’t convert on a big-time pass from Russell Robinson, but moments earlier the KU freshman knocked down a wide-open three.

Giles added another pair of buckets, to up what would be his own career best total to 20 points and KU’s lead to 65-36 with just over five minutes left. Kaun tossed a nice pass for an easy Giles dunk. The second bucket, Giles got another good feed for an uncontested lay-in.

Make that three in a row for C.J., who threw in an emphatic one-handed dunk off a rebound.

OK, how about four straight buckets. Giles bested his previous dunk throwing home a Mario Chalmers lob to give him 24 points.

Halftime

Another strong showing from a KU sophomore big man has helped Kansas build a 15-point halftime advantage. But this time instead of Sasha Kaun, it’s C.J. Giles who leads KU with 11 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Jayhawks shot just 41.9 percent (much worse from three-point land at a clip of 16.7), but an early 7-0 run and six points and five rebounds from sophomore Darnell Jackson, seeing his first action of the season, allowed the Jayhawks to pull away from the Gorillas.

Kansas has outscored Pittsburg State in the paint, 18-2, and KU holds a 15-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

KU senior Jeff Hawkins dished out five assists, while freshman Julian Wright chipped in five points.

PSU was led by Carlos Taylor, who scored eight points, while All-American guard Eddie Jackson tallied six.

First Half Action

In much the same fashion as Kansas started its exhibition win over Fort Hays State last night a young guard knocked down a jumper to give the Jayhawks the early lead.

Tonight it was Robinson, instead of freshman Mario Chalmers, who hit the long jumper from the corner that was just shy of the three-point line.

Pitt. State guard Eddie Jackson showed why he’s been a two-time scoring champ in the MIAA, canning a long three for to give the Gorillas an early lead.

KU’s Sasha Kaun, who missed his first two attempts, 17:15 took no chances at the 17:15 mark, throwing down a thundering dunk to put KU back on top.

Gorilla Daniel Blair tied the game up briefly with a drive to the hoop, but on KU’s ensuing possession C.J. Giles slammed home an exclamation mark.

KU senior guard Jeff Hawkins continued where he left off from the outside last week, when he knocked down a triple at the 14:30 mark to give KU a 12-7 advantage.

A free throw from Giles, who led KU early on with seven points, marked a 7-0 run by KU.

Another pair of charities by the KU big man from Seattle, Wash., gave KU a 16-10 advantage.

Kansas fans got an early look at their future when Chalmers led a KU fastbreak, and wrapped around a behind-the-back pass to fellow freshman Julian Wright. Despite bobbling the ball Wright converted a toughy over-his-shoulder lay-in for a score. Seconds later Chalmers found a wide-open Wright for another easy deuce.

KU sophomore Darnell Jackson saw his first action of the season when he checked in with just over 10 minutes left in the half.

Two more free throws by Giles gave him nine points and KU a 23-15 lead with 10:32 to go.

Rush provided another aerial highlight when he took a lob from Russell Robinson and threw down the alley oop.

Jackson’s first bucket of the season was a big one, when he slammed home a free throw miss.

A putback by Giles gave him 11 points and KU a 30-19 lead with 5:44 to go in the half.

Kaun, who struggled mightily at the free-throw line against FHSU, made his first two Monday night — including banking in the first one which caused Kansas’ bench to break out in smiles.

Much like Giles’ new found range last week, Jackson showed some shooting skills, knocking down a 16-footer. Jackson followed that effort with another slam off a nice feed from Chalmers.

Freshman Micah Downs showed his long-range skills, hitting a deep three a couple of free behind the three-point stripe for the 39-23 advantage with less than a minute remaining in the half.

Kansas’ starting line-up switched a little bit tonight from its first exhibition game of the year as freshman Brandon Rush started alongside freshman Mario Chalmers. Christian Moody, Sasha Kaun and Russell Robinson rounded out KU’s starting five.

Pitt. State started All-American guard Eddie Jackson alongside Wichita native Edward Morris, Jeremy Richardson, Carlos Taylor, and Daniel Blair.

Pregame

Kansas University’s basketball team gets its final exhibition tune-up before Friday’s opener against Idahoa State tonight with a 7 p.m. contest against Pittsburg State at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Gorillas finished third in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association last season with a 23-7 overall record and advanced to the second-round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

The Jayhawks easily defeated another in-state opponent with a 96-62 victory over Fort Hays State last Wednesday in KU’s first preseason game.

KU sophomore big man Sasha Kaun scored a career-best 23 points in the contest, while freshman wing Brandon Rush made his debut with a 17-point, 10-reobound effort. Senior Jeff Hawkins added 11 points, while sophomore guard set a career-best assist mark when he dished out 11 dimes. C.J. Giles and freshman Mario Chalmers added 10 as Kansas won its 23 exhibition game.

Kansas has met Pitt. State five different times and beat the Gorillas in each occassion. In the last meeting, KU pounded Pitt. State 103-73 in an exhibition game on Nov. 11, 2003.

The Gorillas are led by senior guard Eddie Jackson, who earned NCAA Division II All-America honors after a junior season that saw him scored 21.1 points per game and set a school record by converting 115 three-point field goals.

Jackson (5-11, 175) has led the MIAA in scoring the past two seasons, including 19.9 in 2004.

“We went from having one of the most experienced squads to one of the least experienced in a year’s time, but we still have potential to be a good team,” said PSU coach Gene Iba, whose uncle is legendary Oklahoma State coach Henry “Hank” Iba.