LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Naadir Tharpe had 19 points to lead five Kansas players in double figures, and the fifth-ranked Jayhawks held off Oklahoma 83-75 on Monday night to wrap up a share of their 10th consecutive Big 12 championship.

Wayne Selden and Andrew Wiggins added 15 points each, and Joel Embiid had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Jayhawks (22-6, 13-2), who poured off the bench at the buzzer to celebrate the latest addition to their nation-leading 57 conference titles.

It might be the only one for Wiggins and Embiid, the dynamic freshman duo projected to be lottery picks if they come out this season. Wiggins has already stated his intention to do so.

Cameron Clark had 18 points and Buddy Hield finished with 16 for the Sooners (20-8, 9-6), who have lost 12 of their last 13 games against the Jayhawks, including both this season.

They had Kansas on the ropes for most of this one.

After taking the lead midway through the second half, Kansas started to put the hammer down, frustrating Oklahoma into poor outside shots and slicing through the lane for easy layups.

Tharpe made it all happen, either scoring himself or helping one of his teammates. The much-maligned point guard finished with five assists and only one turnover.

Only two schools in men’s Division I basketball have won more consecutive conference titles than Kansas: UCLA captured 13 straight from 1967-79 in the Pac-10, and Gonzaga won 11 straight in the West Coast Conference from 2001-11.

The first half Monday night boiled down to an old-fashioned Big Eight tussle.

The Jayhawks threw the first body punch, picking up right where they left off in a rout of Texas by taking a 15-4 lead. Oklahoma answered with a few haymakers of its own, going on a 13-2 charge and eventually pulling ahead 27-25 with 5:26 left in the half.

Selden took over down the stretch, though, scoring seven straight points to give Kansas the lead back. Frank Mason’s 3-pointer capped a 10-0 surge and made it 42-33 at halftime.

The Jayhawks, arguably the deepest team in the Big 12, forged their lead despite playing without a handful of players due to foul trouble. Wiggins, Tharpe, Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor all had two fouls, and Connor Frankamp was on the bench with three.

Wiggins picked up his third on the first play of the second half, when Ryan Spangler drove to the basket for an and one. It was the start of a 10-2 run that got the Sooners back in the game.

Clark’s hot shooting and a couple of timely 3-pointers by Hield gave Oklahoma the lead, only for Kansas to come back once more. Wiggins scored on a putback of his own miss with 8:01 left to give the Jayhawks a 60-59 lead, and their advantage grew to 69-63 a few minutes later.

The Sooners kept finding answers. When Wiggins hit a 3-pointer to make it 74-66, Isaiah Cousins promptly scored in the paint. When Tharpe got a home-rim bounce on a pull-up jumper, Hield was there to hit a fall-away 3-pointer to close within 76-71 with 1:30 left.

Oklahoma simply ran out of time, and as the final seconds ticked off the clock, another sellout crowd at the Phog began to chant, “Ten straight! Ten straight!”

— Associated Press —

Kansas football head coach Charlie Weis added a seasoned veteran to the Jayhawk staff Monday as it was announced that Bernie Parmalee has joined the KU program at the quality control for special teams position.

Additionally, Weis announced that graduate assistant Kaeman Mitchell will shift from working with the Jayhawk special teams to the offensive side of the ball. Mitchell replaces former KU letterwinner, Kale Pick, who recently left his graduate assistant position at Kansas for a similar role at Texas A&M.

Parmalee comes to Kansas after spending three seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight ends coach from 2010-12. He returned to the NFL coaching ranks in his position with the Chiefs after spending five seasons at Notre Dame (2005-09).

“I am very happy to add Bernie to our staff,” said Weis. “He worked with me for six years and did a great job. I’m sure he will be a valuable asset to our program.”

In his first season with the Chiefs, Parmalee was instrumental in the development of tight end Tony Moeaki. Moeaki caught 47 passes in 2010, the top mark by a rookie tight end in Chiefs history. His 556 receiving yards trailed only tight end Walter White (559) for the best total by a rookie tight end in club annals.

Parmalee served as the tight ends coach his final three seasons with Notre Dame (2007-09). He tutored the tight ends in addition to assisting with the special teams during the 2005-06 campaigns.

Prior to joining Notre Dame, Parmalee spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins (2002-04). During his coaching tenure with Miami, he served as the tight ends coach (2004), the assistant special teams coach/offensive assistant (2003) and assistant special teams coach (2002).

Parmalee enjoyed a nine-year NFL playing career with Miami (1992-98) and the New York Jets (1999-00). During his NFL career, Parmalee played in 134 games (26 starts), recording 567 rushes for 2,179 yards with 17 TDs and 168 receptions for 1,485 yards with three scores. He also registered 16 kickoff returns for 289 yards and 123 special teams tackles. Parmalee also played in seven career postseason contests (four starts). He entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Miami in 1992.

The Jersey City, N.J., native finished his collegiate career as the all-time leading rusher in Ball State history, tallying 3,483 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns. He earned varsity letters in football and baseball as a prep standout at Lincoln High School in Jersey City, N.J.

— KU Sports Information —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Andrew Wiggins exacted a little bit of revenge on Texas.

So did the rest of the Jayhawks.

On the eve of his 19th birthday, the freshman put on a dazzling display of outside shooting and rim-rattling dunks. Wiggins finished with 21 points to lead the eighth-ranked Jayhawks to an 85-54 rout of No. 19 Texas, helping them seize control of the Big 12 race.

It was a far different outcome than the first time the teams met, three weeks ago in Austin. Texas rolled to an 81-69 victory, and Wiggins managed seven points on 2-for-12 shooting.

“We wanted to come out aggressive,” Wiggins said. “Last time we got embarrassed at their place. We wanted to do the same thing to them, win every minute of every possession.”

They just about accomplished it.

Joel Embiid added 13 points, seven rebounds and six blocks for the Jayhawks (21-6, 12-2), who lead the league race by three games with four to play. Kansas can wrap up at least a share of its 10th straight title when Oklahoma visits Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night.

“That was our first goal to start the year off, to win a 10th straight Big 12 championship,” said Frank Mason, who had 14 points off the bench. “That’s still our goal.”

Jonathan Holmes scored 17 points and Cameron Ridley had 11 for Texas, but they were about the only guys wearing burnt orange who seemed to solve the Jayhawks’ gritty man-to-man defense.

Freshman guard Isaiah Taylor was held to just five points on 1-for-14 shooting, while Javan Felix was 2 of 9 from the field and finished with six points.

“I talk about our guys not being as tough as we’d like them to be, which we’re not, but they are prideful,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Texas whipped us down there the first time. I said all along this game wasn’t about the league race as much as it was playing Texas.”

The game actually played out in similar fashion to the first meeting, only this time it was Kansas that played flawlessly and Texas that looked like a mess.

After the Longhorns jumped out to an 8-3 lead, they managed just one field goal over an 11-minute stretch as the Jayhawks launched a 32-5 run that put the game away.

“They were really good, obviously, and you got to know after we played as well as we played against them the first time they were going to be ready to play,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said.

Wiggins led the way for Kansas, at one point scoring 12 points during a particularly brutal 14-0 spurt. He did it in dazzling fashion, too: There was the soaring fast-break dunk, the back-to-back 3-pointers, and the alley-oop jam off a pass from Wayne Selden Jr. that left the crowd roaring so loudly that the field house floor was shaking.

“When I score early, it brings a lot of confidence to my game, especially when I hit a 3. I get on fire,” Wiggins said. “My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball.”

By the time Connor Lammert finally hit a 3-pointer with about 5 minutes left in the half, the lead had ballooned to 28-13 and the Longhorns had exhausted nearly all their timeouts.

“It can get away from you quick,” Holmes said. “One or two possessions, you can look and you’re down by six, eight and then 10 and then the game is over pretty much after that.”

Just how bad were the Longhorns in the first half? Try 6 of 29 from the field and 5 of 12 from the foul line, with five turnovers and three assists. They were dominated on the boards, dominated in the paint and, well, dominated just about everywhere else, too.

Taylor, who had 23 points in the first meeting with Kansas, was 0 for 10 from the field as the Jayhawks built a 46-18 halftime advantage. And even when Texas managed to score — as it did out of the break — Kansas often answered with two buckets in return.

It kept going like that throughout the second half as the Jayhawks outscored Texas 26-0 in transition and 38-22 in the paint, allowing them to empty their bench early.

“I think we should give a refund to the fans,” Barnes said. “Topeka YMCA probably would have given them a little better game, because we didn’t give them a good game at all.”

— Associated Press —

Kansas football head coach Charlie Weis added an accomplished, veteran coach to his staff Thursday, as he announced the hiring of Eric Kiesau to mentor the Jayhawk wide receivers.

Kiesau, who has more than 14 years of experience coaching offense—primarily the wide receiver position—at the Division I level, arrives at Kansas after spending the previous two seasons as the offensive coordinator at the University of Washington.

“When Coach (John) Reagan came to me with Eric’s name I was intrigued,” said Weis. “We’re very pleased to be able to add him to our staff. It is our good fortune that Washington experienced a staff transition at the same time we were looking for a receivers coach. Eric has experienced a great deal of success in exactly the position that we were looking for.”

Kiesau was an integral part of Washington’s success the past two seasons as the Huskies went 9-4 in 2013, marking their highest wins total since they went 11-1 in 2000. During the 2013 season, his first as the UW receivers coach, Kiesau developed a pair of true freshmen who ended up as key players in Demore’ea Stringfellow and John Ross. Ross was named the Huskies’ Freshman of the Year, while Stringfellow started the final three games of the season.

Also under Kiesau’s guidance, in 2013 UW’s leading receiver, Jaydon Mickens, more than tripled his production over the previous seasons, finishing with 65 receptions for 688 yards, easily eclipsing his 2012 totals of 20 catches for 190 yards.

Prior to his time at UW, Kiesau served as the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at California for the 2011 campaign. He’d returned to Cal, where he’d previously worked from 2002-05, after having spent the 2006-10 seasons at Colorado.

During the 2011 season at Cal, Kiesau coached Bears wideout Keenan Allen, the No. 2 receiver in the Pac-12 in terms of receptions per game. Additionally, both Allen and teammate Marvin Jones finished in the top 10 in the conference in receiving yards.

In his prior stint with the Golden Bears, Kiesau served as wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator. During those four seasons, Cal posted a 33-17 record, including four winning seasons and three bowl game victories. In 2003, Kiesau’s second with the Bears, Cal broke a school record with 278 receptions and posted the fourth-best passing yards average in school history with 264.6 yards per game.

Under his guidance, Cal receiver Geoff McArthur earned second-team All-America and first-team All-pac-10 in 2003, when he was second in the nation with 115.7 receiving yards per game. McArthur set school records for receiving yards (1,504) and notched the second-best season in school history in terms of receptions (85). He finished his career in 2004 as Cal’s all-time leader in career receptions and receiving yards.

In 2005, Kiesau mentored Cal receiver DeSean Jackson in his freshman season when the future NFL All-Pro set Cal freshman records for receptions and receiving yards.

Prior to returning to Berkeley for the 2011 season, Kiesau was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach at Colorado from 2006-08, before being named offensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

At Colorado, Kiesau developed walk-on receiver Scotty McKnight, who finished his career in 2010 as the school’s all-time leader in receptions (219), yards (2,588) and receiving touchdowns (22).

Kiesau’s first Division I job came in 2000 at Utah State, where he was initially running backs coach before moving to wide receivers. He coached All-America running back Emmitt White, who led the nation in all-purpose yards in 2000, while at USU. In 2001, he coached receiver Kevin Curtis, the NCAA’s leading receiver with 100 catches, to All-America honors.

Kiesau began his coaching career at Glendale (Calif.) Community College in 1998 after earning his bachelor’s degree in communications in 1996 from Portland State. During his time at PSU, Kiesau played quarterback for the Vikings, starting in 1995.

He began his college playing career at Glendale CC, where he earned All-America honors in 1992. A native of Pasadena, Calif., he and his wife Wendy have a daughter, Tayler, and a son, Blake.

— KU Sports Information —

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self felt more than a little fortunate that his No. 8 Jayhawks pulled out a 64-63 win against a very tough Texas Tech team.

Andrew Wiggins’ layup with 2 seconds left lifted Kansas to victory on Tuesday night.

“I think sometimes you could say they were a little lucky,” he said of the Red Raiders. “They threw some in at the end of the shot clock that maybe weren’t the highest percentage shots, and we were a little lucky that the ball just happened to bounce to Wigs there at the end. That’s part of it.

“We’ve been unlucky and we’ve been lucky before, and they usually balance out over time.”

The freshman finished with 19 points, and Joel Embiid matched his career high with 18 to lead the Jayhawks (20-6, 11-2). Kansas reached 20 wins for the 25th consecutive season, and 11 conference victories for the 20th straight year.

Texas Tech’s Robert Turner sank two free throws with 16 seconds left to put the Red Raiders up 63-62, but Kansas brought the ball up and got it inside to Wiggins for the win.

Jordan Tolbert scored 16 points and Dejan Kravic added 13 to lead Texas Tech (13-13, 5-8).

The Jayhawks own a two-game lead in the Big 12 after Texas fell 85-76 at Iowa State on Tuesday night.

“It’s big, it’s big, but it doesn’t mean anything unless we win Saturday,” Self said of Kansas’ home game against the Longhorns. “That’s the game that would give us some serious breathing room, although we’ve got a little bit now, and it was big tonight.

“I wasn’t banking on them losing, all I wanted to do was win two games this week, and if we were able to do that then it would be a great week.”

The score was tied nine times and the lead changed 13 times.

“I was impressed with Tubby (Smith’s) team and how hard they played and how well they defended, how well they rebounded,” Self said. “They’re going to get better. The guy knows how to win. He’s a proven winner. Those kids played hard.”

Kansas held an early 10-point lead but Texas Tech started hammering the ball inside to make the game tight.

“There wasn’t much to say,” Smith said of his team. “They’re down, they’re despondent because it’s a tough loss. They felt like they played well enough to get the win, but you’ve always have to finish the game the right way.”

Tolbert made a bucket as the shot clock expired with 2:51 left to put the Red Raiders up 59-55. But Wayne Seldon, Jr. hit a clutch 3-pointer to pull within 59-58. Turner answered with a basket, and Embiid sank two free throws to make it 61-60 with 1:22 remaining.

On the Red Raiders’ next possession, a scrum led to Kansas getting the ball. Embiid dunked it to put the Jayhawks up 62-61.

Turner then made his free throws, and Kansas called a timeout to draw up the play to Wiggins.

Kansas scored 22 points from the free throw line, and Texas Tech netted only nine.

Texas Tech came out after halftime and hit four of its first five shots. Kansas made only one basket in four attempts, allowing the Red Raiders to take their first lead since early in the game, 37-32.

Jordan Tolbert capped Texas Tech’s 8-2 run.

But the Red Raiders’ effective defense also created foul trouble. With more than 13 minutes remaining, Jaye Crockett, Kravic and Kader Tapsoba each had three fouls.

Texas Tech sent the Jayhawks to the line often in the second half. Five free throws — by Jamari Traylor and Wiggins — on three possessions pulled Kansas within 46-45 with about 11 minutes remaining. But the Jayhawks regained the lead for the first time in 11 minutes, 52-51, on a pair of free throws by Naadir Tharpe with 7:14 remaining.

But with Kravic back in, and after a turnover by Tharpe, the 7-foot senior tied the game at 53 on a layup with 5:34 left.

— Associated Press —

Kansas sophomore F Perry Ellis has been named the co-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week in a vote by a media panel which covers the conference. Ellis, who is winning the honor for the second time, both this season, shared the accolade with Baylor sophomore Isaiah Austin.

Ellis averaged 25.5 points and 9.5 rebounds as the Jayhawks dropped an 85-82 overtime decision at Kansas State before defeating TCU, 95-65, in Lawrence. The 6-8, Wichita, Kan., native turned in his top effort against the Horned Frogs, scoring a career-high 32 points on 13-of-15 (.867) shooting. For the week, he shot 64.3 percent (18-of-28), including 2-of-3 (.667) from three-point range, while converting 13-of-16 (.813) from the free throw line. Ellis has four double-doubles this year, including 19 points and 11 rebounds at Kansas State, and has led the Jayhawks in scoring each of the last two contests.

Ellis, freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid have earned Big 12 weekly honors twice this season. Wiggins and Embiid have been named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice in 2013-14.

Kansas (19-6, 10-2) will play at Texas Tech (13-12, 5-7) on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. (Central) on the Big 12 Television Network.

— KU Sports Information —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas sophomore Perry Ellis is a man of very few words.

Chances are the roughly 16,000 fans chanting his name Saturday could help him out.

Ellis scored a career-high 32 points to lead the seventh-ranked Jayhawks to a 95-65 victory over TCU, and then answered every question posed to him in his typically understated fashion.

Did you feel in a rhythm? “Definitely felt in a rhythm,” he replied.

What did you think of the chants? “It felt good, just great fan support,” he said.

Leave it to his teammates to describe the best game of his career.

“He takes good shots in a rhythm, and he always looks for his teammates,” said Andrew Wiggins, who added 17 points. “He was aggressive all game, attacking the hoop, making 3s. He did everything.”

Ellis also had eight rebounds and five assists while shooting 13-of-15 from the field.

“Fantastic game,” said Wayne Selden Jr., who scored 15 for the Jayhawks.

Playing without injured center Joel Embiid and suspended forward Brannen Greene, Kansas (19-6, 10-2 Big 12) got off to a slow start but still managed to take a 47-40 lead into the break. The Jayhawks then used a 13-1 charge out of the locker room to put away the Horned Frogs.

TCU (9-15, 0-12) still has not won since knocking off Texas Southern on Dec. 29.

Kyan Anderson did all he could, scoring 21 of his 25 points in the first half. Amric Fields added 12 points, but otherwise a team that’s been depleted by injuries much of the season wasn’t able to hang with the impressive depth of the Jayhawks.

“You know what? I thought we competed as well as we have for a while,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said. “Kyan did a really, really good job of keeping us in the game in the first half, but they’re really good. They’re really good.”

Embiid, who has emerged as one of the nation’s top NBA prospects, has been dealing with ankle and back injuries that have limited his floor time the last several weeks. He didn’t practice in the run-up to TCU and wound up watching from the bench, though he routinely leaped out of his seat to celebrate the myriad of alley-oop dunks that highlighted the Jayhawks’ second half.

Self said he should be available Tuesday at Texas Tech.

Greene, a freshman swingman, also is expected back after sitting out for what Self called “a slippage from a responsibility standpoint.”

Reserve forward Jamari Traylor got back on the court for Kansas and finished with a career-high 10 points and eight rebounds. The sophomore was held out of Monday night’s overtime loss to Kansas State for what Self also had described as irresponsible behavior. The two of them spoke Thursday and Self decided to let Traylor play.

Self turned to Traylor when Tarik Black, who started in Embiid’s place, picked up two fouls in the opening 2 minutes. It was part of a miserable early stretch for Kansas that included a 1-for-7 performance from the foul line and very little defense.

Of course, the Horned Frogs had a hand in that performance.

Anderson was 7-of-8 from the field and 5-for-5 from the foul line in the first half, and TCU — which came in shooting a Big 12-worst 40.9 percent — was hitting at a 56.5-percent clip.

“It’s all rhythm,” Anderson said. “We put pretty good pressure on them in the first half.”

Then the second half started, and the Jayhawks began playing above the rim.

Black, Wiggins and Selden each were on the finishing end of alley-oop passes during what turned into a 23-5 run, giving Kansas a 70-45 lead midway through the second half.

Johnson burned through a series of timeouts, but none seemed to quiet a star-studded crowd that included several NBA stars and Barbara Eden of “I Dream of Jeannie” fame.

The Jayhawks started to empty the bench with about five minutes left, shortly after Ellis knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner and the crowd started chanting his name.

“He was great,” Self said. “He made shots, stretched it, then made mid-range shots, took the ball strong to the hole. I think one of his two misses he got back. He was without question our best player today. Other guys played well offensively, but certainly nobody played like Perry.”

— Associated Press —

Rookies no more, Kansas guard Andrew Wiggins and center Joel Embiid have been named to the list of top 30 candidates for the 2014 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year award presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Thursday.

The freshmen Jayhawks are two of the five Big 12 Conference representatives on the list, joining Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane of Iowa State and Marcus Smart from Oklahoma State. Aside from Wiggins and Embiid, only four other freshmen made the prestigious list.

Wiggins has led Kansas – and the Big 12 freshman class – in scoring all season and currently registers 16.0 points per game. Known for his extreme athleticism, Wiggins can change games with his drives to the rim, whether it be with a quick layup or through his 74.8 free throw percentage, which is tops among KU’s starters and 10th in the Big 12.

The Vaughan, Ontario, Canada native has surpassed double-figures in all but four of his 24 starts this season and has already climbed to eighth all-time on the Kansas freshman scoring record board. Wiggins’ debut season has seen him hit the team’s only half-court three of the year at Baylor (2/4) and nearly eclipse the freshman single-game record with his 19 rebounds at Iowa State (1/13). Wiggins started 2013-14 as the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, a preseason All-American and the CBSSports.com National Player of the Year and has since gone on to earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors twice, as well as, a National Freshman Player of the Week nod.

Embiid, a seven-foot center from Yaounde, Cameroon, has rapidly become one of the best rim protectors in the country as his 2.5 blocked shots per game rank second in the Big 12. With 24 college basketball games to his credit, Embiid needs just two more blocks to break the single-season blocks record by a Kansas freshman. The current freshman record of 62 was set 16 years ago by former KU standout Eric Chenowith in 1998.

KU’s leader with six double-doubles, Embiid also leads the team in rebounding (7.8) and sets the tone from the floor with a 61.2 field goal percentage. Embiid’s rate of progress may be his most impressive feature, however, as the KU big man didn’t begin his basketball career until he was 16 years old. Now, at 18, Embiid earned a starting spot just eight games into his collegiate career and has started 16-straight games since. His lengthy list of highlights includes double-doubles against top-25 Iowa State, Oklahoma State and San Diego State. Embiid is a two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week and earned National Freshman and National Player of the Week status on Jan. 21.

Last season, Ben McLemore and Jeff Withey made the top-30 candidate list as did Thomas Robinson the season prior to that. Danny Manning was the first, and only, Jayhawk to win the award which began in 1969.

Each year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors chooses the 50 preseason “Naismith Watch” list as well as the mid-season team of 30 candidates. The Naismith voting academy narrows that group down to four finalists who will make up the final ballot. The voting academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country, bases its criteria on player performance throughout the season. The 30 candidates will be narrowed to four finalists on March 23, with Naismith’s Men’s College Player of the Year announced April 6.

Jayhawk Nation can help as the fans’ vote will account for 25 percent of the selection process for the Naismith Men’s and Women’s College Player of the Year. This program sets the standard in college athletics for integrating fans into the voting process and providing them with more input than with any other major collegiate sports award.

— KU Sports Information —

An adjustment has been made in staff responsibilities within the Kansas football program, effective immediately. Rob Ianello will move to a new position as Director of Research. Reggie Mitchell will add the title of Recruiting Coordinator. Head coach Charlie Weis will take over the wide receiver position.

“I have decided to adjust our staff,” said Weis. “Reggie Mitchell will return to a position he is very familiar with as our recruiting coordinator. Rob Ianello will move to an off-field position as director of research, spending most of his time on recruiting. Coach (John) Reagan and I discussed several alternatives and have decided to have me handle the wide receiver position at this time.”

“Coach Weis and I discussed our approach moving forward,” said Reagan. “I decided, and we have agreed, that the best immediate answer is to have Coach Weis handle the wide receiver position.”

— KU Sports Information —