As always there were comedic videos, halfcourt shots that netted a pair of KU students $10,000 each and the obligatory “Dream On” highlight video when all was said and done.
The trappings of Late Night in the Phog remained as part of the event’s 42nd edition on Friday night, but for the first time they orbited around a real exhibition contest, in which the Kansas men’s basketball team beat regional Division II foe Pittsburg State, 80-62.
KU put together a run of 22 consecutive points late in the first half and otherwise, with 16 turnovers and 39.0% shooting, looked for a lot of the night like a brand-new team still trying to build chemistry, especially with two late additions, Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White, recently added to the mix. White led all players with 16 points, including 4-for-7 shooting beyond the arc.
Charleston transfer center Christian Reeves and highly touted freshman Tyran Stokes scored 14 more each, with Reeves recording a double-double with 10 rebounds and four blocks. Charles Caporaso had 11 points and eight rebounds for Pitt State.
The visiting Gorillas scored the first five points and led 7-2 before Stokes went all the way to the hoop for a dunk, then Reeves slammed one home over a pair of Pitt State players on the next possession.
Reeves scored six by the first media timeout, including the putback off a jump shot by Taylen Kinney that tied the score at 10.
Newly eligible for a fifth season after receiving an injunction against the NCAA in Indiana, White knocked down a 3-pointer on his first possession and gestured lovingly to the Allen Fieldhouse crowd, before Luke Barnett added another soon afterward.
Barnett missed his next three attempts from beyond the arc, however, and the Gorillas remained undaunted, with Landon Short sinking Pitt State’s fourth 3 of the night to even the score at 19.
The Gorillas even retook the lead at 22-21 on a transition dunk by Caporaso, but KU responded with its 22 straight points over nearly eight full minutes, a run that included a straight-on 3 by freshman forward Davion Adkins and an impressive lob dunk by Dennis Parker Jr. off an assist from Council. The stretch finally concluded with two minutes and eight seconds left in the first half on a lone free throw by Pitt State’s David Corben Jr.
Head coach Bill Self was displeased when the Jayhawks allowed a pair of transition buckets in rapid succession in the final minutes of the half. After a timeout, Stokes made two free throws to set the halftime score at 47-30 in the Jayhawks’ favor.
With Reeves and Stokes continuing to lead the way, KU drew slightly further ahead in the early stages of the second half, aided by a series of turnovers from Pitt State. Leroy Blyden Jr. found his stroke with a couple of pull-up jumpers as well.
Some elegant interplay between Barnett and Kinney yielded the latter’s first 3-pointer to make it 67-42 as the second half crossed its midway point.
Pitt State edged back within 20 points on a 3-pointer by Rickey Loftin II, and as the Jayhawks continued to cycle through various combinations, they struggled to get any sort of rhythm and committed a variety of fouls and turnovers.
KU went nearly three minutes without a point before a post feed from Parker to Paul Mbiya made it 73-55.
The Jayhawks will host Louisville for another exhibition on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
