Rice, Jayhawks Heat Up Offensively in 87-55 Win Over Texas Southern
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Kansas lost two players coming back from the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas but regained its shooting ability as the Jayhawks bounced back in a big way against Texas Southern 87-55 Monday in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kevin McCullar and Bobby Pettiford both missed the game due to injury, giving Joseph Yesufu the start in McCullar’s place. And Yesufu made the most of it, scoring 14 points. But no one made more of their extended minutes than freshman MJ Rice, who notched a career high 19 on 6-9 shooting and 5-6 from the line.
Texas Southern got the first basket of the game and then KU thought that was enough. The Jayhawks shot off an 11-0 run that included early threes from Jalen Wilson and Yesufu, along with a KJ Adams dunk.
The TIgers cut the lead to 12-8 and then went on a scoring drought of more than five minutes as Kansas went on a 13-0 run on the way to a 40-25 halftime lead. The Jayhawks hit six of 15 threes in the first half on the way to shooting 51.7% from the field. Wilson was 4-7 on his own from behind the arc in the first half as he and Dick recorded double digits by halftime (14 and 12 respectively).
The second half began with another quick run, scoring eight quick points in two minutes off a Adams layup, Yesufu three, and Dajuan Harris three on the way to an 11-0 start to the half. The Tigers started to convert from the paint midway through the second half, but Kansas continued to light it up from three. MJ Rice hit his first three of the season with 13 minutes left in the game and then hit another two minutes later on his way to a monstrous half.
As impressive as the outside shooting was the passing. Kansas recorded 23 assists on 30 made field goals, led by Harris’ nine assists. Five Jayhawks ended in double figures, led by Wilson (22) and Rice, but also included Dick (15), Yesufu (14), and Adams (10). Kansas shot 54.5% from the field and hit 13 of 29 threes. Davon Barnes was the biggest spark for Texas Southern, scoring 22 of the TIgers’ 55 points.
Next up is a Big 12-Big East battle against Seton Hall in Lawrence Thursday.
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