LAWRENCE(AP) — Brannen Greene scored 17 points off the bench, Perry Ellis also had 17 points and No. 11 Kansas rebounded from an embarrassing loss to Kentucky with an 87-60 victory over Rider on Monday night.
Svi Mykhailiuk, the 17-year-old Freshman from the Ukraine, made his first start for Kansas, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds. Cliff Alexander had with 10 points and four rebounds.
Xavier Lundy paced Rider (3-2) with 13 points. Teddy Okereafor had 10 points and four assists.
Kansas (2-1) went on a 9-0 run midway through the first half, solely led by Alexander. In those two minutes, Alexander scored all nine points, grabbed two rebounds and blocked a shot. The freshman only played for 13 minutes.
Wayne Selden Jr. led the Jayhawks with a career-high nine assists. Kansas had 22 overall, more than in the past two games combined.
Kansas, then ranked fifth, was routed by No. 1 Kentucky last week in Indianapolis, 72-40, its lowest scoring total since Bill Self took over as coach of the Jayhawks in 2003-04. They had no trouble against unranked Rider.
Kelly Oubre Jr. drained a 3-pointer 80 seconds before halftime, extending the Kansas lead to 29. After that, Rider never trailed by fewer than 25.
Kansas’ defense was much stronger than what the Jayhawks previously fielded.
The Jayhawks held Rider scoreless for the first three minutes, and held them to under 10 points for 12 minutes.
TIP-INS
Kansas: Mykhailiuk became the youngest player to start in the Bill Self era.
Rider: Kansas held Rider to 40 percent from the floor, the team’s lowest percentage of the season.
WHAT’S NEXT
Both teams are traveling to Orlando to play in the bracket rounds of the Orlando Classic.
Kansas faces Rhode Island on Thursday afternoon. Rider plays Michigan State later that evening.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Non-conference
MEN
Monday
At Lawrence
Allen Fieldhouse
No. 15 Kansas 87,
Rider 60
KANSAS (2-1)
Ellis 5-6 7-10 17, Mykhailiuk 4-7 0-0 10, Lucas 3-3 3-5 9, Mason III 3-7 0-0 7, Selden Jr. 0-4 0-0 0, Greene 5-7 5-5 17, Alexander 4-4 2-3 10, Mickelson 3-4 0-0 6, Traylor 3-5 0-0 6, Oubre Jr. 1-4 2-2 5, Manning 0-0 0-0 0, Pollard 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett 0-0 0-0 0, Self 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 31-52 19-25 87.
RIDER (2-2)
Okereafor 4-9 0-0 10, Sadler 4-9 1-1 9, Thomas 2-5 1-2 6, Lopez 3-5 0-0 6, Taylor 2-9 0-3 6, Lundy 6-10 2-2 15, Alford 2-5 0-1 4, Durham 0-3 2-4 2, Valentine 1-3 0-0 2, Fortunat 0-1 0-0 0, D’Orazio 0-1 0-0 0, Bursis 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 24-60 6-13 60.
Halftime_Kansas 51-22. 3-Point Goals_Rider 6-21 (Okereafor 2-4, Taylor 2-4, Thomas 1-3, Lundy 1-4, Alford 0-1, Durham 0-1, Sadler 0-2, Valentine 0-2), Kansas 6-17 (Greene 2-4, Mykhailiuk 2-5, Mason III 1-3, Oubre Jr. 1-3, Self 0-1, Selden Jr. 0-1). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Rider 31 (Thomas 6), Kansas 33 (Mason III, Mykhailiuk 5). Assists_Rider 10 (Okereafor 4), Kansas 22 (Selden Jr. 9). Total Fouls_Rider 19, Kansas 18. A_16,300.
