LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Svi Mykhailiuk struggled to get his shot to drop for three straight games, two of them losses and a third that easily could have been had the Kansas sharpshooter missed one more 3-pointer.

Instead, Mykhailiuk hit the shot to beat Nebraska.

He kept hitting them against Omaha.

Mykhailiuk knocked down six more 3s and poured in 26 points, Devonte Graham added 17 points and the No. 14 Jayhawks rolled to a 109-64 victory over the Mavericks on Monday night.

“Everybody has bad games. Everybody has good games,” Mykhailiuk said. “The last three games I didn’t shoot it well. Today I did shoot it well. That’s basketball, up and down.”

Lagerald Vick added 15 points and Malik Newman had 14 for the Jayhawks (9-2), who enjoyed a breather after gritting out a win over Syracuse and dropping back-to-back games to Washington and Arizona State.

But it was Mykhailiuk who got the offense going. He was 6 of 7 from beyond the arc, 10 of 13 from the field and added four rebounds and four assists to fill his stat line.

“He can play off a screen, spot up, drive it,” Omaha coach Derrin Hansen said. “When he gets his feet set, he not only makes them, it’s like, in-the-middle makes them. He’s hard to guard.”

Daniel Norl had 13 points and Zach Jackson had 10 to lead Omaha, which went 9 for 28 from beyond the arc, shot 33 percent from the field and was outrebounded 49-26 by the Jayhawks.

“I think we were just a little overwhelmed,” the Mavericks’ Matt Pile said.

The Jayhawks toyed with Omaha throughout much of the first half, but their hot outside shooting and massive size advantage in the paint allowed them to easily draw away.

Arizona State transfer Sam Cunliffe, who became eligible after the fall semester and was playing his first game in Allen Fieldhouse, started the first big surge by knocking down a 3 late in the first half.

Mykhailiuk and Graham added 3s and the Jayhawks took an 11-0 run into the break.

Cunliffe also had a couple of nifty alley-oop dunks, leaping up to spear the ball with one hand for his first points with the Jayhawks. He finished with nine points in 19 minutes.

“To be honest with you, I kind of imagined it being a 3, the first one, but I always knew if I got out and ran, someone would throw it,” he said. “Devonte happened to throw it.”

It didn’t help the Mavericks’ cause that they rely on an up-and-down style predicated on 3s, one that plays right into the Jayhawks’ hands. Their superior speed and talent showed as the Jayhawks hit the 100-point mark before the final media timeout, allowing them to empty the bench.

Even walk-on James Sosinski got into the game. The tight end was plucked from the Kansas football team to provide depth in practice, and he wound up scoring four points in the final minutes.

“I would like for us to put the clamps on somebody and we still haven’t done that,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “But we’ve played consistently well this year except for back-to-back games, a four-day stretch where we weren’t very good. Other than that we played consistently well.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Udoka Azubuike had 11 points and 12 rebounds in 22 minutes for Kansas. The nation’s field-goal percentage leader was 5 of 7 from the floor. … The Mavericks were facing their highest-ranked opponent in their Division I era. … Vick also had nine rebounds. … Omaha was outscored 21-7 on the break.

BIG PICTURE

Omaha faced its fourth opponent that was ranked or currently resides in the Top 25, though that’s only part of a difficult schedule. The Mavericks also played on the road for the 11th time in 14 games.

Kansas has done just fine against members of the Summit League, beating South Dakota State earlier this season. Now the Jayhawks need to prove they can beat someone from the Pac-12. They lost to Oregon in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and to the Huskies and Sun Devils this season. Stanford is next.

UP NEXT

Omaha plays Montana State on Thursday night, its fourth game in nine days.

Kansas plays the Cardinal on Thursday night in Sacramento, California.

— Associated Press —

For first time this season, Kansas women’s basketball needed overtime to decide the outcome of its first road contest after a last second shot was a 10th of a second too late. After 14 lead changes in 45 minutes, St. John’s finished on top, downing Kansas, 65-53, on Monday night inside Carnesecca Arena.

After a last-second bucket by junior forward Austin Richardson was waved off by the officials, the game was sent into an extra period after the Red Storm (7-3) tied the game in the final seconds of regulation. Following Richardson’s near game-winning shot, the Jayhawks’ (8-2) offense went cold and didn’t get a field goal to fall in overtime, as St. John’s outscored Kansas 14-2 in added time.

The Jayhawks were led by junior guards Brianna Osorio and Christalah Lyons who netted 14 and 12 points, respectively. Lyon’s 12 points notches the ninth time this season the Dallas, Texas native scored in double figures.

Junior center Chelsea Lott and senior guard Eboni Watts each notched career-high scoring and rebounding performances. Lott netted four points and grabbed five rebounds, while Watts scored five points and brought down six boards.

St. John’s was led by four players who scored 10 points or more. Junior guard Akina Wllere led all scorers with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Senior forward Maya Singleton was the only player on either team to register a double-double netting 14 points and bringing down 24 rebounds. Sophomore guard Alisha Kebbe and freshman guard Qadashah Hoppie added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

After starting the game on an 8-3 run, the Red Storm’s shots stopped falling, shooting just 1-of-12 from the field to end the period. During St. John’s four-and-a-half-minute scoring drought, the Jayhawks went on an 8-0 run, featuring buckets from Lyons, redshirt-sophomore center Tyler Johnson and Richardson to give Kansas an 11-8 lead at the three-and-a-half-minute mark.

Five-straight points from Hoppie put St. John’s back on top by two, but a 3-point basket from Richardson and a layup from Lott gave the Jayhawks the lead, 16-13, to end the first quarter.

The Red Storm held the Jayhawks to just six points in the second period, while forcing nine KU turnovers. Despite holding St. John’s to shooting just 26.7 percent in the quarter and out rebounding the Red Storm 26-19 through the first 20 minutes of play, both teams’ struggles offensively in the quarter kept the game tied at 22 going into the locker room at the half.

St. John’s Singleton started the half off with a jumper before Osorio went on a 6-2 run to give Kansas a 28-26 lead in the early minutes of the second half. The Red Storm answered with a 5-0 run to regain the lead, but the Jayhawks continued to respond to each of the Red Storm’s run with buckets of their own.

A pair of free throws from freshman center Bailey Helgren cut the St. John’s lead to one. Osorio continued her impressive offensive period with her first 3-point bucket of the night to give Kansas a two-point lead. The Las Vegas, Nevada native netted 10 of her 14 points in the third quarter, shooting perfect from the field. The Jayhawks and Red Storm continued to battle back and forth as time in the third quarter expired, trading off on each of the last eight buckets heading into the final 10 minutes down 42-40.

St. John’s led by as many as five points in the first four minutes of the final quarter, but a series of Kansas offensive plays, including key free throws from Lyons and Watts put KU on top, 48-47, with under five minutes to play. Wellere knocked in two free throws from the charity stripe to give the Red Storm lead once again, but Richardson immediately responded with a jumper to give the Jayhawks a 50-49 lead.

Lyons connected on one of her two attempts from the free throw line to extend the KU lead to two, but a Singleton layup would tie the game up at 51 with 21 seconds remaining in the game. Richardson nailed a jumper at the buzzer that appeared to give Kansas the victory in the final seconds, but the bucket was waved off following review and the Jayhawks headed to overtime for the first time in the 2017-18 season.

The Red Storm netted seven-straight points before the Jayhawks could score in overtime. Kansas went cold in extra time, scoring only two points off of two free throws from junior guard Kylee Kopatich. St. John’s ended on a 7-0 run to hand Kansas its second loss of the season, 65-53.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks face Iona on Wednesday, December 20 inside Hynes Athletics Center.

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Bobby Hurley is no stranger to college basketball lore. So when his Arizona State team traveled to Allen Fieldhouse to face Kansas on Sunday, the former Duke star knew what they were in for.

“No one really wins here,” Hurley said. “You come in here, most of the time you’re not leaving real happy.”

Well, the Sun Devils sure did. Tra Holder scored 29 points on 8-for-16 shooting, and No. 16 Arizona State upset No. 2 Kansas 95-85 on Sunday to improve to 9-0.

Shannon Evans II had 22 points, and Remy Martin added 21 for the Sun Devils. Arizona State shot 50 percent from 3-point range and 50.8 percent overall to hand Kansas (7-2) its second straight loss. The Jayhawks fell to unranked Washington on Wednesday night.

“I didn’t really have to coach a whole lot tonight,” Hurley said. “These guys sitting with me here deserve all the credit.”

After a slow start that forced Hurley to use a timeout less than two minutes into the game, the Sun Devils found themselves down by as much as 13 before making their first field goal. The energy in Allen Fieldhouse was as high as has been all season, as Hurley expected.

Arizona State got back into it, though, trimming the deficit to just three points at halftime and eventually outscoring the Jayhawks 58-42 in the second half. To get over this initial hump, the Sun Devils had to take a breath and tune out the raucous environment.

“The game slowed down for us,” Holder said. “At first it was really rapid, the crowd got into it.”

For Kansas, the difference was defense — or the lack thereof.

“It wasn’t our offense,” coach Bill Self said. “Hey, if you score 85 at home, you’re supposed to win.”

Lagerald Vick led Kansas with 25 points, his fifth time with 20 or more this season. Devonte’ Graham added 19 points and eight assists.

Svi Mykhailiuk had an off day, going 3 for 14 from the field and not registering any of his 14 points until he hit a 3-pointer with 6 minutes left. He had four turnovers and four fouls.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas lost consecutive games for the first time since December 2013. Self will need to diagnose what went wrong in a hurry, with the start of conference play just three games away.

Arizona State picked up another marquee victory after knocking off No. 15 Xavier in late November. The Sun Devils are 9-0 for the first time since 1974-75 and look to be one of the top teams in the Pac-12.

FANTASTIC FRESHMAN

Martin finished with 21 points on a 8-11 shooting and a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range. A true freshman, he didn’t seem to be intimidated by the Allen Fieldhouse crowd despite it being just his ninth career game.

“It was a tremendous thing for me to witness and be a part of,” Hurley said.

NEWMAN HURT

Kansas starting guard Malik Newman took a knee to the head late in the game, sending him to the floor for a couple minutes as he was evaluated by medical staff.

After the game, Self said that he was told Newman suffered a concussion, but that he didn’t know the severity or much of a concrete timetable for his recovery.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Kansas will tumble after the two losses. With another impressive win, Arizona State should continue its rise toward the top of the poll.

UP NEXT

Kansas heads north to face former Big 12 rival Nebraska on Saturday.

Arizona State hosts Vanderbilt next Sunday.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Clutch free throw shooting pushed Kansas women’s basketball past Southeast Missouri State for a 51-50 victory on Sunday night inside Allen Fieldhouse.

After shooting just 26.7 percent in the third quarter, Kansas (8-1) had to battle back, relying on clutch free throw shooting in the final minutes in the victory. Senior guard Sydney Benoit was the final Jayhawk to shoot from the charity stripe. After making her one of her two attempts from the free throw line, Benoit gave Kansas a two-possession lead over the Redhawks (4-7) with just under six seconds to play.

Redshirt-sophomore center Tyler Johnson’s career night led the Jayhawks. The Leavenworth, Kansas native finished the night with 14 points (6-of-9) and five rebounds. Junior guards Christalah Lyons and Kylee Kopatich each netted eight points and dished out two assists for Kansas.

SEMO was led by senior guard Ashton Luttrull, who had a game-high 15 points and five rebounds. Senior forward Mandy Madden added eight points and eight rebounds in the Redhawks’ loss.

The Jayhawks tipped off their final game of a nine-game homestand with a layup from senior forward Chayla Cheadle. Southeast Missouri and Kansas battled back and forth throughout the first six and a half minutes until the Jayhawks knocked down four of their final five FGs of the quarter to go on a 10-4 run. Johnson regained an 8-7 KU lead with two-straight baskets after the Jayhawks had missed their last four field goals and SEMO had knocked down back-to-back buckets.

Lyons and Cheadle concluded Kansas’ 8-0 run with a jumper and a pair of free throws to take a five-point lead. The Redhawks kept the Jayhawks from extending their lead any further, splitting up junior center Chelsea Lott’s layup with a layup and jumper to stay within three. Kansas led SEMO, 14-11, going into the second period.

Following a Lyons jumper in the opening minutes of the second period, SEMO scored five-straight points off of a 3-pointer and jumper from Luttrull to tie the game up at 16. Johnson and Kopatich each knocked down shots for the Jayhawks to regain a four-point Kansas lead.

The Redhawks tied the game back up at 20 with a free throw from McCurdy and a long-range bucket from senior guard/forward Kaley Leyhue, but Kansas responded with a basket from junior guard Brianna Osorio, ending the Jayhawks three-minute scoring drought. Junior guard Austin Richardson knocked down a basket to put Kansas up 24-20. Defensively, KU held SEMO to just one field goal in the final three minutes, going into the locker room up, 28-25.

Kansas was scoreless for nearly five minutes to start the half, while SEMO went on a 6-0 run to take a 3-point lead over the Jayhawks. Johnson ended the Redhawks run, connecting on her next two baskets to take back the KU lead, but Southeast Missouri went on an 8-0 run to take a 39-32 lead. Kansas and SEMO traded off the next three buckets, while Kopatich added a free throw that would put the Jayhawks within four going into the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Jayhawks ran out to a 6-0 start to begin the final 10 minutes of the game to regain the lead, 43-41. Senior forward Deja Jones knocked down the first basket for the Redhawks nearly four minutes into the game. Kansas and SEMO continued battling back and forth throughout the final minutes, but the Jayhawks’ clutch shooting from the charity stripe pushed KU past Southeast Missouri, 51-50.

UP NEXT
Kansas women’s basketball hits the road for the first time in the 2017-18 season, traveling to New York to tip off with St. John’s and Iona.

— KU Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — First-year Washington coach Mike Hopkins saw how Kansas dissected Syracuse’s vaunted 2/3 zone defense last week, so he made a couple tweaks to his own version before facing the Jayhawks on Wednesday night.

Primarily, Hopkins stretched the zone to take away the 3-pointer.

It worked to perfection.

The Huskies frustrated the Jayhawks’ dangerous lineup of deep threats, Matisse Thybulle hit five-pointers and scored 19 points, and Washington kept its poise down the stretch for a 74-65 victory that knocked No. 2 Kansas from the ranks of the unbeaten.

“We’ve been very fortunate this year to play a lot of teams that shoot 30 and 35 3-pointers. It’s really the kryptonite of the zone,” said Hopkins, who spent 22 years on Jim Boeheim’s staff at Syracuse, a tenure that came in handy considering the Jayhawks just beat the Orange.

“I felt like this could be our best opportunity to win the game,” Hopkins said.

Jaylen Nowell also had 15 points, and Noah Dickerson added 13 points and 14 rebounds, as the Huskies (7-2) beat the Jayhawks (7-1) for the first time since December 1974.

“We really just didn’t have it tonight. You have to give them credit,” the Jayhawks’ Devonte Graham said. “They made every shot and they did a good job of not letting us get comfortable.”

Lagerald Vick had a career-high 28 points for Kansas, doing almost all his damage in the middle of the Huskies’ zone. But he didn’t get a whole lot of help as the Jayhawks went 5 for 20 from the 3-point arc, lowlighted by lousy performances from their two best sharpshooters.

Graham, coming off back-to-back 35-point outbursts, was held to three points on 1-for-8 shooting, while Svi Mykhailiuk was 3 for 12 from the field and scored eight points before fouling out.

“They took everybody away but Lagerald — `See if you can beat us,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I thought our defense was horrendous and our hustle plays weren’t very good either.”

In truth, the Jayhawks had little trouble getting Vick open shots in the middle of the zone. The problem came in that he was just 12 of 23 from the field, even though most of the shots were bunnies.

Throw in foul trouble that sent the Jayhawks’ two big men, Udoka Azubuike and Mitch Lightfoot, to the bench well before halftime and it was no surprise the Huskies took a 36-34 lead into the break.

Washington kept the pressure on early in the second half, pushing its lead to 52-44 with 12:10 left in the game, before the Jayhawks finally turned up the defensive intensity. Vick got going again inside and Azubuike’s slam of an alley-oop pass trimmed their deficit to 53-52 with 9 1/2 minutes to go.

The Huskies calmed back down after a timeout, though, stretching their lead again. Thybulle got loose for a transition dunk, Dickerson added a slam of his own, and Hameir Wright’s 3-pointer from the wing made it 69-56 — their biggest lead to that point.

Even when the Jayhawks caught a break, like a technical foul on David Crisp in the closing minutes, they couldn’t capitalize. Graham missed both free throws with a chance to cut into a 73-59 deficit, and Mykhailiuk promptly missed a 3-point attempt as the Huskies put the game away.

“You could see this coming,” Self said. “When we’re energized and moving the ball and everybody is playing with energy, I think we’re a nice team. But when we’re not, we get average real quick.”

EARLY EXITS

Kansas fans headed toward the exits with several minutes left, a rarity for the program. But it didn’t surprise the Jayhawks’ coach. “If I would have paid to see that,” Self said, “I probably would have wanted something to drink long before there was 2 minutes left.”

BIG PICTURE

Washington sure didn’t look like the team that struggled to put away Seattle, California-Davis and Omaha in recent weeks. The Huskies were clearly amped up to play the first of back-to-back games against premier programs with Gonzaga on deck next.

Kansas might want to reconsider games at Sprint Center. While the Jayhawks like giving their guys a taste of the building where the Big 12 Tournament is played, it comes at the expense of a massive homecourt advantage in Allen Fieldhouse. Plus, they were bounced by TCU in the tournament quarterfinals last year, then lost to Oregon in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament a couple weeks later.

UP NEXT

Washington begins a four-game home stand with No. 12 Gonzaga on Sunday night.

Kansas welcomes No. 16 Arizona State to Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Coming off back-to-back 35-point efforts, Kansas senior Devonte’ Graham is earning many weekly honors. On Monday, the Raleigh, North Carolina guard has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player of the Week as well as the NCAA.com and Lute Olson Award national players of the week.

Graham scored a career-high 35 points twice last week in Kansas victories against Toledo (11/28) and Syracuse (12/2). He also averaged 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds and made 12 3-pointers for the week. Graham’s seven 3-pointers vs. Syracuse in the Hoophall Miami Invitational were the most for a Jayhawk since 2008.

This is the second time in his career Graham has been named the Big 12 Player of the Week with the other being Feb. 15, 2016, when he scored his previous career high of 27 points at Oklahoma.

Graham entered the Toledo contest averaging 12.0 points per game and now ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring with an 18.6 average. Graham is not just leading Kansas scoring, he ranks second in the Big 12 in assists at 8.0, fourth in steals (2.3), third in free throw percentage (92.3), fifth in 3-point field goals made (2.9), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8) and tied for third in double-doubles with two.

No. 2/2 Kansas (7-0) will host Washington (6-2) in the Jayhawk Shootout at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. (Central).

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Since head coach Brandon Schneider took over the Kansas women’s basketball program, the Jayhawks have recorded an impressive streak of not surrendering leads in the final five minutes of a ballgame. Sunday afternoon the streak lived on after KU prevailed over Arkansas, 71-60, inside Allen Fieldhouse.

In the third edition of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, KU (7-0) improved to 17-0 when owning a lead in the final five minutes of a game. The Jayhawks’ seven-game win streak to open the 2017-18 season, ties for the best start since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 campaigns.

Junior guard Kylee Kopatich registered another career afternoon after netting a career-best 26 points to lead the Jayhawks’ offense. Kopatich added four rebounds and one assist in KU’s victory over the Razorbacks (4-3). Junior guard Christalah Lyons notched her seventh-straight double-digit scoring effort with 15 points, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Johnson added 10 points and five rebounds for the Jayhawks.

Arkansas was led by a trio of double-digit scorers in junior guard Malica Monk, senior guard Devin Cosper and sophomore guard Jailyn Mason. Monk led the Razorbacks with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Cosper added 17 points and three rebounds in the loss, while Mason rounded out the trio of double-figure scorers with 10 points. Sophomore forward/center Kiara Williams grabbed 16 boards for the Razorbacks.

Despite starting the game off with a turnover that ended in an Arkansas basket, Lyons and junior guard Brianna Osorio got the Jayhawks rolling. Lyons immediately contributed on both ends of the floor laying it in at the basket and then taking two charges on the defensive end. Osorio separated Lyons charges with a pair of free throws that put Kansas up, 4-2. Following Lyons’ second charge, Osorio knocked in a layup and Lyons a free throw to put the Jayhawks up by three.

A pair of free throws from the Razorbacks in addition to a layup by Cosper put Arkansas on top, 8-7, before Kansas went on a 9-0 run. Senior forward Chayla Cheadle started the run with a 3-point basket followed by two buckets from Kopatich and a layup from Cheadle. KU’s 9-0 run extended its lead to 16-8. Arkansas ended the period with four unanswered points with a free throw and 3-pointer, both knocked in by junior guard/forward Keiryn Swenson.

The Jayhawks jumped out to a 6-2 run to start the second period. Lyons contributed a pair of layups that were broken up by a Cosper jumper. Johnson took her first charge of the afternoon and then followed up on the offensive end of the floor with a layup. The Jayhawks and Razorbacks traded off buckets for the remainder of the half, ending with back-to-back layups from Monk to put the Razorbacks within eight, 30-22, heading into the locker room.

Kopatich got into an offensive groove in the third period knocked down eight of her 16 points in the third quarter alone, including her first 3-point baskets of the game. Monk and Cosper led the way for the Razorbacks throughout the quarter, as the only players to score in the period through the first eight minutes. Following Kopatich’s second 3-point basket, Arkansas went on an 8-2 run to come with five, featuring long-range shots from both Monk and Cosper. Lyons took matters into her own hands for the final minutes of the quarter, accounting for seven of the Jayhawks’ last nine points of the period. Kansas held onto an eight-point lead going into the final 10 minutes of the game.

Johnson started the final quarter out for the Jayhawks laying in the first basket after a minute and a half of either team scoring. Monk responded with a three-point play the old-fashioned way before Johnson added another layup to keep the Jayhawks on top, 53-46. A pair of free throws by Cosper and a long-range bucket from Mason put the Razorbacks within four, but the Jayhawks lived out their “Tough and Together” mantra to maintain their lead through the final minutes of the game. Despite their best comeback attempts, Arkansas wasn’t able to stop the Jayhawks and fell 71-60 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

UP NEXT
Kansas women’s basketball continues its nine-game homestand with Nebraska on Wednesday, December 6 at 7 p.m. inside Allen Fieldhouse.

— KU Athletics —

MIAMI (AP) — Devonte’ Graham wanted to get into the Miami Heat locker room. That’s about the only thing that didn’t go his way.

Graham matched his career-high with 35 points for the second consecutive game, Lagerald Vick added 20 and No. 2 Kansas remained unbeaten by topping Syracuse 76-60 in the HoopHall Miami Invitational on Saturday night.

Graham said he got excited seeing photos and banners from the Heat championship runs, and the inspiration from being on a court where Jayhawks legend Mario Chalmers and LeBron James — his favorite player — helped the Heat win NBA titles in 2012 and 2013 showed.

“It’s still nice to play in these type of arenas,” Graham said.

Graham shot 10 for 17 from the field and 7 for 13 from 3-point range for Kansas (7-0), which is off to its best start in seven years.

“We’re better when we have balance and he’d probably agree with that,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “But on a night where basically we didn’t have much going on, he needed to do that. He picked his spots well.”

Tyus Battle scored 22 points for Syracuse (6-1), which was playing away from the Carrier Dome for the first time this season. Frank Howard scored 15 and Oshae Brissett had 13 for Syracuse.

Kansas made 11 3s, but needed 31 tries to get there.

“Kansas was averaging 90-something points per game or something,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “Our defense wasn’t the problem.”

Svi Mykhailuk added 11 points for the Jayhawks, who shot 49 percent and held Syracuse to five baskets in the first half. Kansas used guard Clay Young at times against Syracuse’s 7-foot-2 center Paschal Chukwu, and even that worked.

“I actually thought he did great — 6-3 guarding 7-2, I thought he did OK,” Self said.

The Orange trailed by 21 early in the second half before a 16-2 run over 2 1/2 minutes got Syracuse within 49-42, with Battle and Howard combining for 14 points during that stretch.

Graham connected on a deep straightaway 3 to end that Orange flurry, and Syracuse went cold quickly. The Orange managed only five points in the next 6 minutes, and Kansas rebuilt a 17-point lead on a dunk by Vick with 7:39 left.

The Orange didn’t get closer than nine again, and finished shooting only 32 percent.

“This game was a great game for us,” Boeheim said. “It was a great experience to figure out what we need to do in certain situations and when you get down 21 to a team like Kansas and you can come back … we’ll learn something there.”

BIG PICTURE

Syracuse: As of now, this may be the only game Syracuse plays against a ranked opponent until facing Notre Dame on Jan. 6. None of the next eight opponents on the Orange schedule are currently in the AP Top 25, nor were any of their first six. … Miami coach Jim Larranaga, whose Hurricanes played in the second game Saturday night, spent some time watching Syracuse-Kansas — from behind the Syracuse bench.

Kansas: Graham had 60 points in Kansas’ first five games; he’s got 70 in his last two. … It’s still an unbeaten season for Jayhawk basketball — not only is the men’s team perfect so far, but Kansas’ women’s team is off to a 6-0 start.

WAITERS WATCHES

Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters had a rare chance to see his beloved Orange — he played for Syracuse from 2010 through 2012 — in person, sitting courtside with Heat managing general partner Micky Arison and president Pat Riley. He raved about Syracuse’s famed 2/3 zone. “That zone’s for real,” Waiters said, quickly adding that he led the Big East in steals thanks to that zone.

SUNSHINE STATERS

Syracuse will be in Florida at least three times this season — this game, plus Atlantic Coast Conference games at Florida State on Jan. 13 and Miami on Feb. 17. This was the third visit by Kansas to the Sunshine State in the last 20 years. The Jayhawks went to Florida in 2013-14, and won a tournament in Orlando the following season. Kansas hadn’t played in Miami since 1990.

UP NEXT

Syracuse: Faces Connecticut in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Kansas: Faces Washington in the Jayhawk Shootout at Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Junior guard Christalah Lyons career night led the Jayhawks to a 63-48 victory over UMKC on Wednesday night inside Allen Fieldhouse.

Lyons led all scorers on the night with a career-high 22 points. She knocked in 12 of her 22 points in the third quarter, scoring all but five of the Jayhawks’ points in the period. The Dallas, Texas native’s 22 points marks the sixth-straight time this season that she’s notched a double-digit scoring effort. Lyons added six assists, tying her career high and five rebounds in the Jayhawks (6-0) win over the ‘Roos (0-6).

Junior guards Brianna Osorio and Austin Richardson also posted double-digit efforts, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively. Richardson added nine rebounds, falling one shy of a double-double, and three assists. Osorio grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists on top of her double-digit scoring night.

UMKC redshirt-junior forward Kristen Moore played all 40 minutes of the game and notched a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the process. Senior guard Aries Washington followed closely behind with 15 points and six rebounds.

The Jayhawks set the offensive pace from the get-go with Osorio knocking down a 3-pointer for the first points of the night. UMKC’s Washington answered with a layup, but KU went on a 9-0 run in response to take a 12-2 lead. Following Washington’s bucket in the first minute of the game, the Kangaroos went scoreless for the four and a half minutes of the quarter.

Senior guard Samantha Waldron ended the drought with UMKC’s first 3-point basket of the game sparking some offense by the ‘Roos. Throughout the final minutes of the first period the Jayhawks and UMKC traded off buckets, allowing the ‘Roos to come within seven points, ending the quarter down 18-11.

The opening minutes of the second quarter were all about Richardson, who knocked down six-straight points to extend the Jayhawks lead to 13. Junior guard Kylee Kopatich finished off an 8-0 KU run with a layup. UMKC had yet to make a basket through the first four minutes of the period, but a free throw by senior forward Kiana Law would start some offensive movement for the ‘Roos.

Washington wove in and out of the Kansas defense to score and got fouled for a 3-point play opportunity, completing the play to narrow the deficit, 26-15. Richardson laid in another layup to maintain KU’s double-digit lead. Senior forward Chayla Cheadle added two buckets of her own to keep the momentum going for the Jayhawks, but a 3-pointer by Washington to end the half kept the ‘Roos within 11 going into the locker room.

Lyons was a major contributor for the Jayhawks offensively in the third quarter, starting the half off with back-to-back buckets to put Kansas up, 39-24. Waldron knocked in a layup for the ‘Roos that was quickly answered with a KU 5-0 run. Osorio’s layup and a 3-point play the old-fashioned way stretched the Jayhawks lead to 18 with five minutes to play in the period.

UMKC’s senior guard Daijane Dillard completed her own 3-point play as the ‘Roos continued to fight to stay in the game. Junior guard Kylee Kopatich broke up a potential run by the ‘Roos with a pair of free throws before Moore knocked down two straight buckets. Lyons added a 3-pointer and a jumper, scoring 12 out of KU’s 17 points in the third period. The ‘Roos ended the third quarter the same way they ended the second, this time with Waldron knocking down the long-range shot. The Jayhawks held onto a 52-38 lead going into the final 10 minutes of the game.

The ‘Roos and Jayhawks battled until the sound of the final buzzer as UMKC attempted a fourth quarter comeback. UMKC tipped off the period with a Moore layup, followed by a layup for the Jayhawks by Osorio. Kansas triumphed in the ‘Roos attempt to narrow the margin, never allowing UMKC to cut the lead to single digits. The Jayhawks finished the game on a 6-1 run to win their sixth-straight game, 63-48.

UP NEXT
Kansas women’s basketball welcomes Arkansas to Allen Fieldhouse for the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.

— KU Athletics —