After sending themselves into a nice, two-day holiday break on a winning note, the KU men’s basketball team hopes to come out of it in similar fashion, returning from the short hiatus to take on Detroit tonight at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU bombed Boston College, 84-66, Saturday afternoon, but now must avoid a hangover against a Titans team stronger than their 3-8 record indicates.
Detroit is led by junior Brandon Cotton, a Michigan State transfer and former McDonald’s All-American who averages 15.7 points per game. Senior forward Ryvon Covile averages 15.5 points per night, and is fourth in the NCAA in rebounding with an average of 11.4 boards per outing.
For KU, sophomore Brandon Rush, who has had a bout with the flu over the past couple of days, is in uniform and warming up at a normal pace.
FIRST HALF
Mario Chalmers hit a three on the game’s second possession to get the scoring going, and Julian Wright was fouled while trying to go coast-to-coast moments later after picking up a loose ball on the defensive end.
Wright hit one of two free throws to make it a 4-0 game early on.
Sasha Kaun turned in a spinning baby hook shot after a missed Detroit jumper to hlp KU’s early lead continue to balloon.
An emphatic Kaun swatted shot sent the game into its first full timeout with KU leading 6-0 at the 15:58 mark.
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Chris Hayes hit a three-pointer roughly 30 seconds back into the action to slice KU’s lead in half, but Kaun scored again on a dunk following a deflected Julian Wright pass to put KU up 8-3.
Russell Robinson then made it an eight=point game by sliding into the left corner and hitting a three right off of a dish from the paint.
Darrell Arthur, recently checked into the game, gave KU its first double-digit lead of the game by throwing home a beautiful lob pass from Sherron Collins. Collins followed it with a three from the same spot Robinson hit at just moments earlier.
KU led 16-3 with 11:41 to go in the half.
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Muhammad Abdur-Rahim hit a pair of free throws out of the timeout for Detroit, ending a scoring drought of more than three minutes, and it was followed by Mario Chalmers and Brandon Bell trading three-pointers.
An Abdur-Rahim layup moments later again drew Detroit to within 11 points at 19-8.
Brandon Cotton scored his first points of the game on a runner in the lane with just under eight minutes to go in the first half, but KU was still ahead 19-10 heading into a full timeout moments later.
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KU turned the ball over out of the break, continuing a scoreless streak of their own approaching four minutes in length.
Mario Chalmers, who was KU’s go-to-guy in all facets of the game Saturday against BC, stole a ball at midcourt and earned a trip to the free throw line, hitting one of two to put KU back up 20-10.
Sasha Kaun then had to take a seat with his second foul of the game, but he and the other KU bigs have kept Ryvon Covile, Detroit’s second-leading scorer, pointless throughout the brunt of the first half.
Julian Wright missed a turnaround jumper for KU, but the Jayhawks got the ball back when a loose ball went out of bounds off of Detroit, sending the game into a full timeout with less than four minutes to go. The alarming part, though, is that while KU leads by 10 points, the Jayhawks have scored one point in the game’s last seven minutes.
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After Darrell Arthur missed a free throw on the front end of a one-and-one trip out of the timeout, he scored in transition to score the Jayhawks’ first points in minutes. Brandon Cotton answered right back for Detroit with a spinning drive in the lane.
Cotton drew a foul and hit both free throws to make it a 22-14 game with just under 90 seconds until the half left. Covile held Darnell Jackson on the other end, and Jackson hit one of two, making KU 3-of-9 from the stripe so far.
Cotton drove the lane and scored yet again, giving him eight in the first half, while Mario Chalmers leads KU with seven. A big hit for KU has been the scoreless first half had by Brandon Rush, who has been on the floor for most of it.
Chalmers drove hard and hit a falling layin with just two seconds to go in the half and was fouled on the way up. He hit the subsequent free throw to put KU up 26-16 at the half, and he has 10 points to lead all scorers.
SECOND HALF
Brandon Cotton hit a fading jumper out of the break to pull Detroit within eight points and give him 10 for the game. It was hit on the left baseline over a trio of KU defenders.
The game was paused for a couple of minutes when one of the Detroit assistant coaches had to leave the sidelines due to illness, and Covile scored his first points inside once play resumed. Brandon Rush answered with a three, though, giving him his first points of the night and giving KU a nine-point lead.
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Cotton again drew first blood out of the timeout to pull Detroit within seven point as KU’s offense continued to clunk around in unproductive fashion.
Chalmers, though, continued to be KU’s only real form of offense, hitting a pair of free throws to give him 12 points on the night.
Cotton’s answer was drawing a foul on the baseline where he hit his earlier jumper. He’ll shoot two free throws after a television timeout with 15:46 to play and Kansas leading 31-22.
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Out of the timeout, Chalmers hit his third three-pointer of the game after Sasha Kaun hustled for a long offensive rebound following a Brandon Rush shot rimming out off the glass. That was after Cotton hit one of two free throws.
A badly missed three from Detroit’s Nemanja Jokic resulted in Rush hitting a jumper from the free throw line to match KU’s biggest lead of the game at 36-23.
Chalmers, on the next defensive stand for KU, picked up his third foul, sending him to the bench. Russell Robinson then grabbed his second straight defensive board, but it resulted in no points for KU.
Cotton hit a deep three-pointer to again keep Detroit within range at 36-26. It gave him 16 points so far on the night.
Darrell Arthur on the next trip down missed a pair of free throws as KU’s woes from the stripe continued. They’re only 6-of-14 so far.
Covile hit a long baseline jumper to again pull Detroit within single digits at 36-28 with just under 13 minutes left in the contest.
After KU took a brief timeout, Darrell Arthur followed a pair of Sasha Kaun misses to put KU up 10 again.
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Chris Hayes hit both ends of a a bonus free throw line trip out of the timeout, but Sherron Collins responded quickly with a floater while crossing the lane just shy of the free-throw line. But Collins was whistled for his third foul while trying to go between two defenders in transition moments later.
Cotton drove again, this time on a smaller KU lineup featuring Collins, Russell Robinson and Jeremy Case, and scored his 17th and 18th points off of the glass. Cotton then scored again off of a KU turnover to pull the Titans within six points at 40-34.
Russell Robinson then hit one of two free throws for KU, but it was answered by a Jon Goode three-pointer for Detroit, making it a four-point game at 41-37 with 8:55 to play.
Julian Wright finally ended yet another KU drought with a turnaround jumper in the lane to put KU’s lead back up to six points, and it was followed with Goode airing a three attempt from the top of the key. Wright followed it with his second field goal not only of the game, but his second in about a minute to put KU up by eight at 45-37 with 7:51 to play.
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Sasha Kaun hit a pair of free throws to extend KU’s short run to 6-0. That was followed by Cotton misfireing for the second straight Detroit possession.
Russell Robinson then hit a three-pointer from the wing to push KU’s lead to a more comfortable 50-37, and giving the Jayhawks a 9-0 run over the last 3:00.
Muhammad Abdur-Rahim hit a deep three for Detroit to end their scoreless run, but Chalmers, recently re-inserted into the game, drove while in transition and cocked back an authoritative one-handed slam, giving him 17 points on the night.
Julian Wright missed a pair of jumpers as KU headed into the game’s final full timeout leading 52-40.
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Ryvon Covile scored out of the timeout in the paint and drew a fould in the process, sending Sasha Kaun out of the game with his fifth whistled infraction. He finished the night with six points and four blocks.
Covile hit the free throw to pull Detroit within nine at 52-43 with less than three minutes to play. Sherron Collins put the lead back into double digits with a pair of free throws, giving himself seven points on the night.
Brandon Rush scored again, and it looked to give Kansas the lead for good at 56-43 with just under two minutes to go. Rush then scored again on a dunk in transition. After Robinson made the feed, he bumped knees with a Detroit defender and would remain on the floor for a minute while being attended to by a trainer.
Chalmers scored on a with less than a minute to go, giving him a team-high 19 points on the night and KU a 60-43 lead. He then hit a final three-pointer to put KU up 63-43 and give himself his second straight 22-point game. That was the final score, and Chalmers’ point total led all scorers. Brandon Cotton had 20 for Detroit, who drops to 3-9. KU, 11-2, hosts Rhode Island Saturday night at 7 p.m.
