LAWRENCE — Tyshawn Taylor grabbed the opening tip, took a couple dribbles across midcourt and heaved a pass ahead to Jeff Withey, who was fouled while slamming home a rim-rattling dunk.
Kansas needed all of 5 seconds to set the tone against overmatched, undersized Howard.
Taylor finished with 13 points and five assists, Connor Teahan also had 13 points and the No. 17 Jayhawks coasted to an 89-34 victory Thursday night.
The Bison’s point total was the fewest yielded by Kansas in more than two years, and the second-fewest in the Bill Self era.
“I won’t put a lot of stock in it,” Self said. “From an energy standpoint, we played faster, more energy, seemed a little more athletic. Other than that, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on it.”
Withey finished with 10 points, and Thomas Robinson had nine points and seven rebounds while playing a team-high 22 minutes for the Jayhawks (9-3), who play North Dakota on Saturday in their final tune-up before facing rival Kansas State in their Big 12 opener next week.
“We’ve just been kind of focused on what we need to do on each possession, no matter what the score was,” Teahan said. “When you play against stiffer competition, you have to be sharp.”
Prince Okoroh led Howard (4-10) with seven points, while Glenn Andrews managed just three on 1-for-10 shooting after going for a career-high 28 points in an overtime win over Delaware last week.
“We got our butts kicked,” Howard coach Kevin Nickelberry said simply.
The Jayhawks used a 10-0 run early in the first half to stretch the lead to double figures, with Robinson slamming down a missed 3-point attempt by Elijah Johnson with one hand to a roar from a crowd
The Bison have lost 28 consecutive road games, including a 107-50 defeat at Indiana earlier this season. They wrap up a two-game swing through the state when they face Kansas State on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kansas has won 12 straight at Allen Fieldhouse, which was packed to the rafters despite students being on winter break. It was the 54th consecutive non-conference victory at home — the school doesn’t count the Jayhawks’ loss to Davidson on Dec. 19, which was played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., even though they were the designated home team.