LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — James Sims rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns and Kansas snapped a 27-game Big 12 losing streak Saturday with a 31-19 victory over West Virginia.

Thousands of fans stormed onto the field embracing players and coaches and eventually tearing down the south goalpost.

Sims, who recorded a career-high on 22 carries, broke runs of 62 and 68 yards while Kansas (3-7, 1-6 Big 12) ended a Big 12 drought that had lasted more than three years. Winds gusting near 50 MPH kept plastic bags and autumn leaves tumbling across the field as the sparse crowd witnessed Kansas’ first conference victory since a come-from-behind win over Colorado on Nov. 6, 2010.

It was just the second Big 12 win in 40 games for the Jayhawks, who had fired two coaches and plunged back into deep mediocrity after winning the 2008 Orange Bowl.

West Virginia (4-7, 2-6), which wasn’t even a Big 12 member when Kansas notched its previous conference win, took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, a long drive against the wind. But the Mountaineers were unable to generate anything more until two meaningless touchdowns with less than 5 minutes to play.

The Jayhawks, who came into the game 117th in the NCAA in total offense and 116th in scoring, rushed for 315 yards against a Mountaineer unit ranked No. 100 in total defense.

With the Jayhawks trailing 7-3 midway through the second period, Sims broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and fled 62 yards down the sideline to the 10. A minute later, he went over from the 3. Then with 28 seconds left in the first half, the 6-0, 200-pound senior bolted through a big hole and went 68 yards virtually untouched, giving him 14 100-yard rushing days, No 2 on the school’s all-time charts. At 17-7, the Jayhawks had their first halftime lead since the season opener.

When Sims powered his way into the end zone from three yards out to make it 24-7 following a West Virginia turnover in the third period, it was Kansas’ biggest lead over an FBS opponent since mounting a 21-point advantage against Baylor in 2011.

Paul Millard was for 23 for 42 for 242 yards and two touchdowns in his third start for the Mountaineers but also threw two disastrous interceptions.

On a first down from the Kansas 30, he fired the ball right into the arms of Ben Goodman standing near the line of scrimmage. Goodman rambled 54 yards until Millard pushed him out at the 14. After Montell Cozart went around right end for 7 yards, Sims scored his third TD. Then Ben Heeney intercepted Millard’s pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 28 yards to the 1, setting up Brandon Bourbon’s touchdown plunge.

The Mountaineers, who were making their first trip to Lawrence, drove 75 yards with their first possession and scored on Charles Sims’ 12-yard catch-and-run from Millard. Millard threw a 3-yard touchdown to Kevin White with less than 5 minutes to play. With 28 seconds left, Charles Sims scored on a 6-yard run for the Mountaineers.

— Associated Press —

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self announced that power forward Cliff Alexander from Curie High School in Chicago has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Jayhawks.

“We are so excited about Cliff,” Self said. “Since (assistant coach) Jerrance Howard has been on board, he has done a great job in recruiting both Cliff and his family. Cliff comes from an excellent high school program and has been well coached by Mike Oliver his entire high school career. Mike has been one of the longest tenured coaches in the Chicago area and has produced a several of great prospects like Cliff.”

Ranked No. 3 by ESPN100 and No. 4 by Rivals.com, Alexander averaged 21.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.0 blocks his junior year for Oliver at Curie High School where he earned all-state first-team honors following the 2012-13 season. Other Chicago Jayhawks who have played for Self while at Kansas include All-American Sherron Collins, Julian Wright, Mario Little and current forward Jamari Traylor.

“Cliff comes here from a long line of great ones from Chicago and has as much potential as anybody in the class,” Self said. “At 6-foot-8, he can play on the block and he can play behind the arc. He can play in between, but the biggest thing he can do is rebound the ball. He’ll remind our fans of a Thomas Robinson going after the ball rebounding.”

Alexander joins wing/forward Kelly Oubre on the fall 2013 signing class. Oubre, who signed his NLI with Kansas on Nov. 13, is ranked as the No. 10 overall player in the class of 2014.

“The combination of Cliff and Kelly Oubre gives us what we feel are two of the top players in our class and is a great momentum boost going forward this season knowing we’ll have some real good players waiting to get here next year,” Self said.

Alexander, who plays for the Mac Irvin Fire AAU program under coach Mike Irvin, chose Kansas over Memphis, Michigan State, Illinois and DePaul. He

— KU Sports Information —

Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self, who has guided KU to nine-straight Big 12 regular-season championships and two Final Fours, including the 2008 NCAA title, will be honored at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards in Oklahoma City, April 14 as the recipient of the Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award.

Self, who is one of four coaches in NCAA?Division I?history to have led three different schools – Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas – to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, will be honored at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The College Basketball Awards are produced annually by Access Sports in conjunction with the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).

“When you look at Bill Self’s record on the court and combine that with what he does off the court in the community and with his players, you see the very essence of what the Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award stands for,” said David Gillikin, Chairman of the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards. “We are very pleased to be able to recognize Coach Self and his accomplishments with this prestigious award.”

The Tisdale Humanitarian Award honors an individual involved in college basketball who has had a significant positive impact off the court well as on. Previous honorees include legendary ESPN and hall of fame announcer Dick Vitale, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. The award’s namesake, Wayman Tisdale, died in May 2009 after a two-year battle with cancer.

“I was very proud and honored when I was informed I would be receiving the Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award,” Self said. “There have been some very influential recipients who have deservedly received the award in the past and I’m not sure I fit in that category. To win an award that has Wayman Tisdale’s name tied to it is certainly humbling. Knowing Wayman and having played on the same AAU team with him, I was always a great fan of his. He personally had as much to do in popularizing the sport in the state of Oklahoma as anybody and it’s quite an honor for me to receive an award with his name on it.”

Prior to 2013-14, in 10 seasons at Kansas Self has a 300-59 record (83.6 percent), averaging 30 wins per season. Overall, Self has coached 20 seasons with a 507-164 record (75.6 percent). He won his 500th career game at Iowa State (108-96 in OT) on Feb. 25, 2013. The fastest KU coach to reach 300 wins at Kansas, Self’s milestone victory occurred during the 2013 NCAA Tournament against former KU coach Roy Williams’ North Carolina team, 70-58. Kansas’ 300 victories under Self are more wins than any other NCAA Division I school in the last 10 years. He was named just the eighth head coach in Kansas basketball history on April 21, 2003.

Bill and Cindy Self established the Assists Foundation in 2006 to help provide young people access to better lives. The mission of Assists is accomplished by identifying areas of need and working with other community-based institutions to provide creative and lasting solutions. The Assists Foundation supports scholarships and helps community organizations improve their facilities and programs so as to teach young people how to live healthy, productive lives. The foundation works to help young people have access to healthy lifestyle programs, facilitated by components of education, assessments, prevention, leadership, and competition. Self is also actively involved in a variety of other charitable efforts, including Coaches vs. Cancer and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Self will share the stage in April with college basketball’s Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year, the National Player of the Year, who will receive the Oscar Robertson Trophy, and the Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award.

The Devon Energy College Basketball Awards are presented by Devon Energy, a leading independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City. The event is produced by Access Sports, an Oklahoma City-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to supporting various charitable causes, including funding prosthetic devices for needy individuals through the Wayman L. Tisdale Foundation, funding of youth basketball programs throughout the state of Oklahoma through the Wayman’s Lightning Basketball League, and other worthy charitable causes.

— KU Sports Information —