Kansas University senior point guard Elijah Johnson did not start Tuesday’s exhibition opener against Emporia State.

“Elijah was substantially late to a class today. He knows the deal. (It’s) not a big deal,” Self said.

Johnson entered for starter Naadir Tharpe for the first time at the 15:50 mark of the first half. He finished with 12 points, five assists and three rebounds with one turnover in 23 minutes.

Tharpe scored eight points off 3-of-3 shooting (2-of-2 from three) with four assists, one turnover in 17 minutes.

“What Naadir does best is shoot,” Self said. “He doesn’t shoot enough. In the first half, we went on a 26-3 run, and Naadir was a big part of that. He’s fast and he can shoot, but sometimes he defers too much. He did a lot of good things tonight.”

Lucas hits glass: Freshman forward Landen Lucas had nine rebounds and six points in 12 minutes.

“I feel the way I can contribute to this team is to come in and rebound in the minutes that I am playing,” Lucas said. “I feel like I did the best I could tonight, and I’ll continue to crash the boards the rest of the season.”

Withey honored: KU senior Jeff Withey (seven points, six boards, 18 minutes) on Monday was named honorable mention All-America by the Associated Press.

The AP preseason team consists of five first-team members and 17 honorable mention picks.

Withey, a 7-foot center from San Diego, recently was selected to the All-Big 12 preseason team by the conference coaches. Withey was the 2012 Big 12 defensive player of the year and an all-conference third-team selection who set the Kansas and Big 12 single-season blocked shots record with 140 last season.

Included in his 140 blocked shots were an NCAA Tournament-record 31 in KU’s run to the NCAA title game and a conference-games-only record of 65. Withey averaged 9.0 points and 6.3 rebounds for KU last season and shot a team-best 79.5 percent from the free throw line.

The All-America team consists of Indiana’s Cody Zeller, Creighton’s Doug McDermott, Murray State’s Isaiah Canaan, Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas, Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum and Michigan’s Trey Burke.

Payday: Emporia State received guarantee money of $20,000 for playing in the exhibition game.

Injuries: KU freshmen Zach Peters (shoulder), Kevin Young (hand) and Evan Manning (foot) missed the game because of injuries. They sat on the bench in street clothes.

Stats, facts: KU has won 37 straight home exhibition games dating to the 1994-95 season. … KU is 6-0 vs. ESU in exhibitions. … Bill Self is 19-0 in home exhibitions at KU. … KU’s 23 assists were the most in an exhibition since Nov. 3, 2009, when the Jayhawks collected 24 assists vs. Fort Hays State. … KU hit 54.4 percent of its shots to ESU’s 35.8. … KU trailed by as many as six points early but went on a 19-1 run to open a 31-15 lead. During that stretch, KU made 8-of-10 shots, including three three-point baskets. .. KU outscored Emporia State 30-7 over the final 12 minutes of the first half. … Ellis is 22 of 31 from the field in KU’s five exhibition games this season (four in Europe).