KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Frank Mason III had 19 points, Josh Jackson added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and fifth-ranked Kansas turned to its zone defense to beat Georgia 65-54 on Tuesday night in the CBE Classic championship game.

Devonte Graham added 14 points for the Jayhawks (4-1), who won their third consecutive in-season tournament title and second CBE Classic. They also won the tournament in 2012.

The Jayhawks hope it’s the beginning of a sweet ride at the Sprint Center this season. They play Davidson in the same building in a couple of weeks, have the Big 12 Tournament there in March, and then hope to land in the NCAA Tournament regional finals with a Final Four spot on the line.

Yante Maten had 30 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (3-2), but they were done in by 3-for-18 shooting from the perimeter, equally lousy foul shooting and turnovers that led to easy runouts.

J.J. Frazier, who had been averaging 19 points per game, was held to two on 1-for-10 shooting.

The game was strange from the outset as two coaches who disdain zones, the Jayhawks’ Bill Self and the Bulldogs’ Mark Fox, slapped them on when foul trouble robbed them of several starters.

It also slowed the game down and turned it into a shooting contest.

Kansas was a bit more efficient from the perimeter, slowly drawing away after trailing 20-19 with about 8 minutes to go, to forge a 35-25 lead at the break. The Bulldogs only made one of their final 16 field goal attempts, and their only scoring in the final 5 minutes came at the foul line.

The lead was still just 42-34 with 16 minutes to go when Mason drove for a basket, the first of eight straight points for the Jayhawks. Mason added another basket, Jackson solved the Bulldogs’ zone for a dunk and Graham and Dwight Coleby finished it off to give Kansas a comfortable cushion.

Georgia went more than 7 minutes without scoring as the game got away.

BIG PICTURE

Georgia earned a split in the CBE Classic, and losing to Kansas doesn’t hurt its NCAA Tournament resume. The Bulldogs showed in their win over George Washington that they can be competitive.

Kansas has already proven it can score this season. On Tuesday night, the Jayhawks proved they can play a little defense, too, even if it meant ditching Self’s preferred man-to-man.

UP NEXT

Georgia begins a five-game homestand against Gardner-Webb on Friday night.

Kansas plays UNC-Asheville on Friday night in its second game at Allen Fieldhouse this season.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Josh Jackson has been huddling with the Kansas coaching staff since the start of the season, and the message has been the same: If you quit fouling so much, you would say on the floor more.

The sensational freshman must have finally listened.

Jackson poured in 22 points, many of them on highlight-worthy dunks, while backcourt mates Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham helped carry the load as fifth-ranked Kansas routed Alabama-Birmingham 83-63 on Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.

“Me committing silly fouls take me out of the game, and don’t allow me to play as much as I’d like,” said Jackson, who also had seven rebounds and three assists. “It worked out today.”

Mason finished with 20 points and Graham had 16 for the Jayhawks (3-1), who advanced to play Georgia for the title on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs beat George Washington 81-73 in the other semifinal.

Kansas raced to a big early lead, weathered several runs by UAB, then relied on their backcourt of Jackson, Mason and Graham to pull away from the Blazers down the stretch.

“They’re very good. They’re obviously one of the best teams in the country,” UAB coach Robert Ehsan said. “When they shoot it like that, they’re very hard to beat.”

Dirk Williams led the Blazers (2-2) with 13 points. Tyler Madison had 12.

The Blazers got off to what looked like it would be a catastrophic start, turning the ball over seven times and missing their first 11 field-goal attempts. Their only points over the first 10 minutes came on foul shots, and by the time they finally hit the Jayhawks led 23-3.

“They started off really shooting it bad, and we defended pretty well,” Kansas coach Bill Self said, “but I didn’t think our defense was very good the last 30 minutes. I thought it was average at best.”

The Blazers took advantage with a run of their own.

They ripped off a 17-2 run over the next 6 minutes as the Jayhawks missed seven straight shots of their own, and they quieted a partisan crowd by getting within 27-20 late in the half.

If that didn’t make Self irate, the way Kansas ended it did. Graham hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds to go, but UAB went coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating basket to deflate the Jayhawks.

“We were exciting going into halftime,” Ehsan said. “I thought if we could make a run in the second half, we would have a shot. But they’re Kansas for a reason.”

The teams resumed trading runs early in the second half before the Jayhawks began pulling, and four 3-pointers by Svi Mykhailiuk — who finished with 15 points — helped put the game out of reach.

“We played really well. I think everybody’s mind was right,” Graham said. “We came in focused, just trying to do the little things we’ve been watching on film that we hadn’t been doing well.”

Jackson added an exclamation mark with just over four minutes left, taking a pass in the open floor and throwing down a windmill dunk while getting fouled for a three-point play.

“He’s an extremely talented player. His versatility is what I’ve been surprised with, how many things he can do on the floor,” Ehsan said. “He’s a tremendous player.”

CHARITY STRIPE

Self was plenty unhappy with the foul line at both ends of the floor. Kansas sent UAB there 26 times while going just 9 of 19 at its own end. “We have to figure out a way to get to the free-throw line,” he said, “and when we do, it’d be nice when we made some every now and then. We’re putting people on the line too much and giving people too many free points.”

BIG PICTURE

UAB showed some moxie in rallying from its big early hole, even the Jayhawks never led by fewer than five the rest of the way. It had to be encouraging for first-year coach Robert Ehsan, who is trying to get the Blazers back into the NCAA Tournament this year.

Kansas looked tired at times from a brutal start to the season. The Jayhawks played Indiana in Hawaii, Duke in New York and Siena at home on Friday night. The grind continues with the CBE Classic title game before another home game against UNC-Asheville on Friday night.

UP NEXT

UAB plays in the consolation game Tuesday night.

Kansas plays the Bulldogs for the tournament.

— Associated Press —

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas had a pair of players recognized for their efforts in leading the Jayhawks to a 24-21 overtime win over Texas as sophomore defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr., and senior kicker Matthew Wyman both snagged weekly honors the Big 12 Conference office announced Monday morning. Armstrong was tabbed Co-Defensive Player of the Week, while Wyman was named Special Teams Player of the Week.

Armstrong, who was honored by the conference office for the first time in his KU career, led the Jayhawks’ first win over the Longhorns since 1938 as he tallied a career-best 11 total tackles, including nine solo stops. Additionally, he collected 2.0 sacks and 3.0 TFLs in the win. Armstrong’s strip-sack of UT quarterback Tyrone Swoopes marked his second forced fumble of the season, a fumble he recovered returned seven yards. The Houston, Texas native now leads the Big 12 in both sacks (10.0) and TFLs (17.0) on the season.

32742Wyman, who was also honored for the first time in his KU career, propelled Kansas to its overtime victory over Texas by drilling a 25-yard field goal in overtime to forge the Jayhawks’ win. The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, native connected on three field goals during the game. In addition to the game-winner, Wyman tied the game for KU with a 36-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining in regulation. He also drilled a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter. Wyman’s game-winning field goal marked the second of his career. He led KU to victory with a 52-yard winner against Louisiana Tech in 2013.

With Armstrong and Wyman picking up the awards during the same week, Kansas had two players honored by the Big 12 in the same week for the first time since Todd Reesing and Darrell Stuckey picked up weekly awards on Dec. 1, 2008 following a win over Missouri. Armstrong, Wyman and punter Cole Moos (Oct. 17) give Kansas three weekly award winners in a single season for the first time since 2007 when Reesing, Marcus Herford and Scott Webb were each honored by the Big 12 office.

UP NEXT: Kansas closes out the regular season when the Jayhawks travel to in-state rival Kansas State, Saturday, November 26. Kickoff against the Wildcats in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown is slated for 11 a.m., with the broadcast designated to FOX Sports 1.

— KU Athletics —