Update #10: Final, KU wins 87-57
As the bench emptied for KU, the reserves took advantage. Brady Morningstar hit a mid-range jumper on his first touch, sandwiched between a pair of OSU buckets.
Matt Kleinmann hit one of two free throws for his first points of the game, Brad Witherspoon had a chance to score his first KU points, but clanked a three and missed his own follow-through. Jeremy Case hit the final three points for KU, who won 87-57
Seven KU players had at least seven points, led by 18 from Brandon Rush and 16 from Sasha Kaun. Mario Boggan, who entered the game averaging over 20 points per game for OSU, had just eight on an awful shooting night as the Cowboys drop to 15-2, and Kansas improves to 14-2 and 1-0 in Big 12 play. KU travels to Ames, Iowa to take on Iowa State Saturday at 1 p.m.
Update #9: 3:46, second half, KU leads 81-48
Julian Wright hit one of two free throws after OSU had another ugly miss out of the timeout on the floor. KU so far has shot 61 percent from the field and has 17 steals (six of which by Chalmers, who now has at least five in four of the Jayhawks’ last five games).
Darrell Arthur missed two free throws, but Rodrick Stewart collected the offensive board, hit Arthur back for an easy one-handed slam.
Update #8: 5:23, second half, KU leads 78-48
Darrell Arthur scored on a failed lob to boost KU’s lead to 22 points. An added bonus was Mario Boggan’s trip to the bench, having been ineffective all night with a 4-of-16 shooting performance so far.
With just over nine minutes to go in the game, Darrell Arthur notched a sweet assist when coming down the lane and taking an entry pass from Mario Chalmers, when he flipped it to Darnell Jackson for a jam to make it a 69-45 contest with time now heavily in Kansas’ favor.
Marcus Dove hit a three for OSU, but Darnell Jackson kept his offensively solid night going, hitting his second baseline jumper of the game, giving him eight points on 4-of-4 shooting.
Russell Robinson drove the lane after another OSU missed shot, and the defensive breakdown for the Cowboys continued as Robinson dropped in an easy layup. Darnell Jackson came back moments later to score again and went up 75-48. Oklahoma State whistled another timeout, but KU even made its screwups look good. After a failed entry pass to Kaun got tipped away, the ball found Sherron Collins, who swished home a three to make it a 30-point game at 78-48.
Update #7: 11:38, second half, KU leads 65-45
JamesOn Curry gave OSU a ray of light out of the timeout, hitting a three and getting fouled at the same time, and the four-point play made it a 13-point play, and all of a sudden a new game emerged.
Chalmers scored on a slashing layin in which he shed a pair of defenders to answer, and after another Boggan miss, Collins fed Kaun on a lob for his first points of the second half.
Terrel Harris hit a wide open baseline three to come back from back-to-back KU scores.
Collins came out of a timeout with a deep three to put KU back up by 17 points, but Curry again went aggressive to the basket, scoring his 11th and 12th points of the night.
Rush did the same thing, entering the lane for an inside leaner, and after another OSU offensively empty possession, Chalmers got inside and scored another and-one to push the lead to 19. The free throw again made it a 20-point game at 65-45.
Update #6: 15:22, second half, KU leads 53-36
Just like it went at the start of the first half, turnovers marred the opening possessions of the second stanza.
Each team did it twice, and Mario Chalmers almost broke the scoreless stretch in transition, but was swatted from behind. On the other end, Kenny Cooper hit an and-one, and drew the third foul on Julian Wright. Cooper missed the free throw, but his hoop made it a 15-point game at 47-32 two minutes into the second half.
Russell Robinson answered with a swooping layin which counted, but he was called for a charge coming down, giving OSU back the ball. Sherron Collins then scored again on a coast-to-coast opportunity after a ferocious defensive rebound by Kaun, putting KU back up by 19.
Cooper continued to be the only Cowboy able to find space underneath as he scored again, giving him 12 points. But right after that, Mario Boggan notched his third whistle, having scored just six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Rush and Boggan traded baskets, and Sherron Collins was whistled for a foul as KU leads 53-36 with 15:22 to go in the game.
Update #5: Halftime, KU leads 47-30
Byron Eaton hit one of two free throws out of the timeout, but KU traded it with Kaun’s sixth field goal of the game, giving him a game-high 14 points.
Monds threw down a one-handed stuff for OSU, and a Rush miss put the ball back in the Cowboys’ hands down 19 points with two minutes left in the half. After that, Rodrick Stewart was called for a foul. Curry missed both free throws.
Brandon Rush tried to create on the other end, but missed for the second time in a minute in the lane, and Cooper got a layin for OSU to pull his team within 17 points.
KU called a 30-second timeout, and turned the ball over right out of it, continuing a mini-slide heading into the half with another foul under the hoop, putting Cooper at the free throw line again. Both free throws went to make it a 15-point game, but Darnell Jackson came right back with a 16-foot baseline jumper and let OSU hold for the last shot. Nothing came of it and a Rush half-court heave fell short, but KU leads 47-30 after one half. Brandon Rush and Sasha Kaun each have 14 points for KU.
Update #4: 3:18, first half, KU leads 43-23
Terrel Harris scored his first points of the game with a pair of free throws out of the timeout. But KU kept bringing thunder. After Collins missed a runner in the lane, Darnell Jackson followed it with one hand over a crowd in strong fashion.
Harris made another pair of free throws, but KU still held a 20-point lead approaching the six-minute mark in the first half. It was followed by a Mario Boggan 19-foot jumper as KU has begun to slow down its attack.
Boggan had a chance to slice it to a 16-point game after KU failed on offense again, but his spinner in the lane missed. Sasha Kaun answered with a bucket, giving him 10 points on the night.
Kaun kept it coming with a quick turnaround bank shot while defended underneath, putting KU up 21 points after another OSU free throws. The 12 points already are a season high for Kaun, whose previous best was 11 points against Winston-Salem State.
Sherron Collins then hit a leaner from the left side on a tough drive to put KU up 23 points, but Terrel Harris’ first field goal of the game came from three-land and again made it a 20-point game. A Kaun foul led to a full timeout at the 3:18 mark.
Update #3: 7:27, first half, KU leads 35-13
KU earned its way into the bonus just under the 11-minute mark, and Brandon Rush took advantage of the first trip. He hit both free throws, making him 7-of-8 from the line so far and giving him 12 points. To better that, Rush stole the OSU inbounds pass, but KU couldn’t score with the ball again.
KU put up another defensive stand, and Rush went to the line yet again, hitting, you guessed it, another two. They came after he pulled down an impressive defensive board from a Curry free throw miss in the middle of the lane.
Collins was called for a walk, but the Jayhawks’ four turnovers so far are nothing compared to the 12 OSU has registered just over 10 minutes into the game.
Things got heated on another sloppy OSU possession, as Kaun was raked across the face by David Monds pulling down a rebound. He then went and hit two free throws to push KU’s lead to 31-11 with just under nine minutes to go in the half.
Collins, who had been ridden with mistakes early, then got the ball running at top speed after a Curry shot was blocked. He took it nearly the length of the court before finding Mario Chalmers for a flashy layin. OSU scored its first field goal since Curry’s early three, but Julian Wright answered back with yet another baseline jumper, putting KU up 35-13 with 7:27 to go.
Update #2: 11:58, first half, KU leads 25-11
Darrell Arthur missed a pair of free throws out of the timeout, but KU’s lead bulged to 10 points after forcing another turnover when Kaun got his third uncontested slam in quick fashion. It came on a nifty dish from Sherron Collins around two defenders.
Arthur had a chance to blow the Fieldhouse up on an open court one-on-none opportunity, but he held the rim to long and the ball throttled out. But Brandon Rush off of another turnover went back to the free throw line and hit a pair. Arthur then swatted Boggan after the Cowboys’ leading scorer picked up his second foul, and on the way back down, OSU coach Sean Sutton melted down in the form of earning a technical foul.
Rush hit one of two free throws to put KU up 21-8. On the ensuing possession, Rush took a feed on the right wing, swooped into the lane and elevated for an authoritative slam, giving him 10 points and KU a 23-8 advantage.
KU continued the defensive dominance, forcing OSU into a backcourt violation, and moments later Julian Wright hit a pull-up jumper on the baseline to make it a 17-point game.
Sherron Collins made one of KU’s first mistakes of the game, fouling Curry shooting a three, and the OSU junior hit all three attempts to finally snap a Cowboy drought.
Darrell Arthur got called on a charge at 11:58 with KU leading 25-11 heading into a full timeout.
Update #1: 15:24, first half, KU leads 16-8
KU tried a lob right off the opening tip which failed. But the ball was put back in the Jayhawks’ possession when Sasha Kaun ripped down a Mario Boggan missed three attempt.
Turnovers kept coming as each team did the same on their next possession.
Kaun got the scoring started just over a minute in with a huge two-handed slam on the baseline off of a pick-and-roll. Then came a Russell Robinson three from the left wing after Brandon Rush scrambled to regroup a loose ball. It put KU up 5-0 and set the Fieldhouse ablaze.
OSU whistled an early timeout, and then worked itself back on the scoreboard. Kenny Cooper caught an inside pass and put home a two-handed jam and added a free throw with a foul call, slicing KU’s lead to two points.
Rush, though, answered right back with a three-pointer, bumping KU’s lead back to 8-3. KU also kept up its halfcourt pressure, with Julian Wright forcing another turnover. The result was another pick-and-roll slam for Sasha Kaun, giving him four quick points.
Chalmers then slipped to the left sideline on defense and forced another turnover. He hit Brandon Rush with a baseball pass to midcourt. Rush earned his way to the foul line with a collision under the hoop on top of Eaton. He hit both free throws, and Julian Wright answered a JamesOn Curry three with a tip-in to keep KU’s lead big at 14-6.
Boggan scored for OSU, but he was whistled for a foul on the other end, which is something the Cowboys need to avoid to hang around.
Darrell Arthur, fresh into the game, took an entry pass up for a baby hook and hit after the Cowboy foul.
Pregame
As Bill Self put it during his weekly press conference, if KU comes out on top after tonight’s Big 12 Conference opener at home against Oklahoma State, it’ll be a great scheduling move on the league’s part.
But what better way to test your worth in a conference opener than against one of its top three contenders.
The Jayhawks expect one of the more raucous atmospheres of the year tonight with the No. 10 Oklahoma State Cowboys in town. It marks KU’s first marquee matchup since a Nov. 25 82-80 win over then-No. 1 Florida in Las Vegas.
One area where the No. 6 Jayhawks have an advantage before the tip-off is in the depth department. Thanks to injuries and other whatnots, OSU enters Allen Fieldhouse with just eight scholarship players. But their top five are as good as any in the country. Leading the way is the inside-outside combo of senior forward Mario Boggan (21.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and junior guard JamesOn Curry (18.9 ppg).
The Cowboys added a walk-on in the days leading up to the game, though, to add some depth. It’s junior Adarius Bowman, whose name should ring a bell with KU fans. He had 13 catches and 300 yards in the Cowboys’ 42-32 throttling of the Jayhawks on the gridiron this fall. The 300 yards were the most a KU defense had ever allowed an opposing wideout in a single game.
