No. 3 KANSAS 99, UMKC 52
UMKC (8-7)
Johnson 1-7 1-4 3, Couisnard 4-9 8-9 16, Hall 3-9 1-4 7, Kamwa 0-1 1-5 1, Chamberlain 2-8 1-2 7, Gholston Jr. 1-3 0-0 2, Dibble 0-1 0-0 0, Lewis 5-14 5-7 16, Rockmann 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 17-31 52.
KANSAS (14-0)
Mark. Morris 2-3 0-0 4, Marc. Morris 5-8 1-1 11, Taylor 4-9 6-7 15, Reed 4-5 0-0 11, Selby 4-6 6-6 16, Withey 3-3 1-1 7, Woolridge 0-0 1-2 1, Morningstar 3-7 2-2 8, Johnson 5-11 0-0 13, Roberts 0-1 0-0 0, Releford 4-7 3-4 13, Juenemann 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-61 20-23 99.
Halftime—Kansas 52-24. Three-point goals—UMKC 3-21 (Chamberlain 2-5, Lewis 1-6, Gholston Jr. 0-1, Hall 0-2, Couisnard 0-2, Johnson 0-5), Kansas 11-26 (Reed 3-4, Johnson 3-8, Selby 2-3, Releford 2-3, Taylor 1-3, Mark. Morris 0-1, Roberts 0-1, Morningstar 0-3). Fouled Out—Johnson, Withey. Rebounds—UMKC 33 (Kamwa 10), Kansas 37 (Marc. Morris 7). Assists—UMKC 4 (Chamberlain, Couisnard, Hall, Lewis 1), Kansas 26 (Selby, Taylor 7). Total Fouls—UMKC 20, Kansas 24. Technical—Mark. Morris. A—16,300.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — No. 3 Kansas was too much for UMKC.
Josh Selby had 16 points to lead six Kansas players in double figures and the No. 3 Jayhawks defeated UMKC 99-52 Wednesday night.
Kansas (14-0) scored the game’s first 15 points and extended the nation’s longest homecourt winning streak to 68 games.
Tyshawn Taylor added 15 points for Kansas. Travis Releford and Elijah Johnson had 13 each for the Jayhawks.
Jay Couisnard and Bakari Lewis each scored 16 points for UMKC (8-7).
The Roos had a plan in their attempt for an upset.
“We wanted to come out of the gates and get the first punch,” Couisnard said. “No matter who we’ve played against, we’ve been able to make the first punch.”
Not Wednesday. Instead, it was Kansas that scored the first 15 points.
Five Jayhawks scored in the run, which Releford capped in style. When UMKC’s Trinity Hall went up for a dunk, Releford blocked it to start a fast break, which Releford completed with a layup for a 15-0 lead with 14:28 remaining.
Roos coach Matt Brown called a timeout, one of four he used in the first half.
UMKC responded with six straight points, including Reggie Chamberlain’s 3-pointer with 13:23 remaining in the half that gave the Roos their first field goal.
The Jayhawks answered with a 22-4 run, highlighted by two Johnson 3-pointers and his slam off an alley-oop from Selby.
The Jayhawks stifled the Roos’ offense. Through 14 minutes, UMKC had more turnovers (12) than points (10) and trailed by 27. Kansas did it with an extended zone press that Taylor said they have only been working on “for a couple days” and made UMKC “keep passing the ball back and forth.”
“The goal with the press is to slow them down,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “It shortens the clock so they don’t have much time to work with.”
Kansas pushed the lead to as many as 31 in the half and led 52-24 at halftime. The Jayhawks pushed the lead to 40 as Marcus Morris made it 73-32 with 13:45 remaining. They did it all without part-time starter Thomas Robinson, who missed the game due to a death in the family.
“They have good chemistry,” Lewis said. “They move the ball around very well, they’re all disciplined and it looks like they are having fun out there.”
The Roos had 26 turnovers and four assists while Kansas had 26 assists and 15 turnovers. The Jayhawks had 18 steals and shot 56 percent for the game.
It was the Jayhawks’ sixth victory by 30 points or more this season, but the first since November.
