The Jayhawks cruised over host Chaminade, 102-54, Wednesday night in the seventh-place contest of the Maui Invitational. The lopsided defeat marked the worst loss in 64 tournament games for the Silverswords.

Sophomore C.J. Giles paved the Jayhawks’ path, scoring 18 of his career-high 21 points in the first half off a perfect 9-of-9 shooting.

“I guess I was more comfortable than the first two games,” said Giles who tied Mark Randall for most field goals made without a miss. “I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was against Arizona. I just felt comfortable.”

Giles couldn’t break Randall’s school record as his 10th shot rolled in and out the start of the second half, but the Jayhawks easily kept up the kind of first half play that allowed them to cruise (KU went on a 26-2 second half run and led by as many as 50) to victory at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo

“I know Mark had a lot of one- and two-foot shots, C.J. knocked down a lot of long jumpers,” Self joked of Giles’ career night. “He played well.”

Freshman Brandon Rush led three KU freshmen who scored in double figures with 17 points. Micah Downs had 13 and Julian Wright added 10. Sasha Kaun scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Kansas outrebounded the Silverswords 50-27.

“Two people who really needed reps today were Julian and Micah,” Self said of the freshmen. Along with Wright’s career-best point total, he also snagged a career-best six boards. “It was good to see them get reps and play well.”

Chaminade, which shot 31.7 percent, was led by Dylan McCune’s 17 points, while Chris Reaves chipped in 10.

While Self said he was disappointed that his young team couldn’t have pulled out at least one more win on their trip away from the mainland, but said his squad learned a lot and can enjoy Thanksgiving in paradise.

“In a very painful way we got better on this trip,” Self said. “I’m happy we know more about our team. I wish we would have played Maryland today. But we can learn from this and we can get better.

“They’ll be free tonight and tomorrrow obviously we’ll have Thanksgiving dinner in the morning. They’ll enjoy it from this point on.”

Second Half Action

KU’s Sasha Kaun kept up the Jayhawks’ dominance insided when he scored a short basket in the paint in the first 13 seconds of the second half.

Brandon Rush added a three, his ninth point, to give KU a 51-29 lead.

C.J. Giles couldn’t break Mark Randall’s school record for consecutive field goals when a shot from the top of the key rolled in an out.

Seconds later Giles missed a short shot, but the sophomore big man leads all scorers with 18 points.

Chaminade’s Dylan McCune added his fourth three to cut into KU’s double-digit lead.

Silversword Chris Powell gave the home town fans something to cheer about when he skyed for a two-hand slam.

Russell Robinson got a shooter’s roll for his seveth point.

Rush reached double digits on a drive to the basket with 16;19 to go. The freshman got the bucket and was fouled. He hit the charity for his 12th point, and pushed KU’s lead to 56-34.

McCune knocked down another triple, his fifth in the game from the top of the key. All 15 of McCune’s 15 points have come behind the three-point line.

Rush, who has 15 points of his own, added another drive and foul with 15:08 left to give KU a 59-37 lead.

Hear Bill: Chaminade postgame comments Photo Gallery: KU vs. Chaminade

Much like yesterday’s lob to Giles, Hawkin threw another beautiful pass to freshman Julian Wright, who emphatically threw down a two-handed dunk.

Wright again threw down another two-hander off a feed from Chalmers. Kansas lead 63-37 with just under 13 minutes left.

Wright added his 10th point on a baseline jumper.

Kansas, which is shooting 58-percent, has outrebounded the Silverswords 35-16.

Chalmers nailed a three to put Kansas up by 30.

Wright found Rush with a no-look back-door pass that Rush, who has 17, slammed home.

Giles scored a basket and hit the proceeding free throw for the three-point play and 73-39 lead.

Kaun reached double figures with 11 points on a putback with just over nine minutes to go.

Downs knocked down a three to double up the Silverswords’ score.

Kaun knocked down two free throws to give him 13 points. Giles has 21, Rush 17, and Wright 10 for the Jayhawks.

Senior Stephen Vinson found a wide-open Kaun in the lane and the sophomore dunked the ball home.

Downs connected on a mid-range jumper to give him nine points and KU a 84-41 lead with six and half to go.

With 5:47, Downs nailed a three from the left side for his 12th point.

KU’s Matt Kleinmann scored his first official points in an official game when he hit a pair of free throws with 5:07 to go to put KU up 89-44.

Kleinmann got in the lane and knocked down a short jumper, while Vinson followed with a three pointer.

Another bunny by Kleinmann put KU up 97-50 with under three minutes to go.

A pair of free throws from Moody gave the Jayhawks a 99-50 lead with a minute and a half to go.

Jeremy Case pushed the Jayhawks past the century mark with a three-pointer from the top of the key with just under a minute left.

Kansas will leave Maui with a 1-2 record thanks to its 102-54 win over host Chaminade.

Halftime

Kansas’ C.J. Giles has gone off in the first half of the Jayhawks’ seventh-place game against Chaminade.

The sophomore big man has already scored a career-high 18 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting. Gile’s nine consecutive field goals tied Mark Randall’s school record.

The Jayhawks shot 57-percent in the first half, while holding Chaminade to 35. KU outrebounded the Silverswords 24-13.

Kansas, which got seven points from Sasha Kaun and six from Brandon Rush, had 11 assists to eight turnovers.

Chaminade’s Dylan McCune led the Silverswords with nine points in the first 20 minutes.

First Half Action

Kansas won the tip and Sasha Kaun scored a quick bucket for the game’s first points.

Chaminade answered when Zach Whiting drove into the lane to tie the game.

C.J. Giles had a long jumper from the top of the key to put KU back on top.

Giles then followed home a miss with a one-hand stuff to help the Jayhawks to a 6-2 lead a minute and a half into the game.

Kaun scored his second basket three minutes in and KU took an 8-4 lead.

Giles added another jumper for his sixth points and KU went up 10-4.

Giles again got the Kansas contigent of fans in the Lahaina Civic Center on their feet with a big block moments later.

Making his first appearance in the game freshman Mario Chalmers found a streaking Brandon Rush for an ally oop on the left baseline for a 12-5 KU lead.

Chaminade’s Dylan McCune answered with a three-pointer back the other way.

Julian Wright hit a high-arching jumper from the base line to give KU a 14-18 advantage with 13:15 to go in the half.

Wright missed a 10-foot jumper and couldn’t get his follow to go in either, but fellow freshman Micah Downs tipped the ball home at 11:54, to give Kansas a 16-8 lead.

Rusell Robinson added a pair of free throws and Wright hit a hook shot for the 20-8 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the first half.

With 9:08 to go in the half, Kaun hit a free throw to push KU ahead 21-8, and the big sophomore came back again got another hoop and foul. Kaun, who leads KU with seven points, missed the bonus though and KU kept a 23-8 advantage.

Kansas has owned the glass so far, holding a 19-7 rebounding advantage over the Silverswords.

After a pair of free throws by Chaminade’s Whiting, Giles responded with a lay-in to gave him eight points.

A missed jumper by Chalmers was tipped in by Giles, who on the next possession hit a long jumper to give him a game-high 12 poitns and push KU’s lead to 29-13 with just under seven minutes to go in the half.

Chaminade’s Marko Kolaric got his own putback to fall, but Giles came back with another bucket.

The Jayhawks got a steal and Chalmers found a leaping Rush who tipped in the lob, for a 33-15 with under five minutes to go.

Chris Reaves scored his sixth point for the Swords, but Rush proceeded to hit a jumper of his own for his sixth point.

Giles scored another bucket, for his 16th points as the KU big man has hit all eight field goals.

A steal by Chalmers led to another dunk by Giles.

Christian Moody got in on the action with a lay-in for a 41-22 lead.

Robison came down the next trip and hit a three-pointer for the 44-22.

But Chaminade’s McCune hit his third triple of the game with just over a minute left.

Downs added two free throws for a 46-27 lead.

The Jayhawks headed into the half with a 46-29 advantage.

Kansas, which again was wearing its road blue uniforms, started Jeff Hawkins, Russell Robinson, Brandon Rush, C.J. Giles, and Sasha Kaun.

Chaminade countered with guards Chris Nelson and Chris Reaves, forwards Zack Whiting and Dylan McCune and center Marko Kolaric.

Pregame

Despite a 4-59 record in the Maui Invitational, Kansas University coach Bill Self is not taking tonight’s 6 p.m. game against host Chaminade lightly.

“Chaminade has been more than capable playing against anybody in the tournament,” said Self of the Silverswords, who led Maryland by 11 in the first half Tuesday before falling 98-69.

“We’ll have to be mature and come out and play with some energy.”

While Chaminade, an NCAA Div. II school, also suffered a lopsided loss to Michigan State on Monday, the Swords have a tradition of pulling off big upsets.

None were bigger than when the Silverswords upset a Ralph Sampson-led Virginia team in Honolulu. But Chaminade also has taking out powerhouse programs such as Providence, Stanford, and Villanova in the annual tournament held at the Lahaina Civic Center.

“As usual, we’ll have our hands full,” Chaminade coach Matt Mahar said. “Kansas is big, tough, fast, has good guards.

“My team is confident. We’ll come to play, and hopefully both teams will play well, and it will be a good game.”

Kansas, which was led by freshman Brandon Rush’s 20-point performance in its one-point, 65-64 loss to Arkansas Tuesday, probably wasn’t expecting to be playing in the seventh-place game of such a top-notch tournament.

“This is the worst-case scenario for us, obviously, to play in this game,” Self said. “I’m disappointed about it. I’m sure our players are. We can’t change it. We certainly better be ready to play.”