The Kansas Jayhawks returned to Allen Fieldhouse and were able to get back into form against the Central Arkansas Bears. Kansas struggled two nights earlier against the Memphis Tigers in the Hall of Fame Showcase in St Louis en route to a 57-55 victory, but Central Arkansas were unable to mount a serious challenge for the Jayhawks as Kansas rolled to a 94-44 victory.
Central Arkansas scored the game’s first points, but after KU’s Henry hit a three-pointer to make it 5-2, it was all Jayhawks the rest of the way. UCA’s Rehmel hit a three-pointer at the 16:10 mark to pull the Bears within 8-5, but the visitors would not score again for the next 12 minutes. The Bears missed 15 consecutive shots before Rehmel hit a layup at the 4:09 mark. By that time Kansas led 31-7. The Jayhawks showed a balanced attack as eight different players scored in the 23-0 run. Kansas entered halftime with a 37-15 lead and held Central Arkansas to 19.2% shooting on the half.
Kansas opened the second a little sloppy, with back to back turnovers before they finally got things going again. Kansas then went on a 16-2 over the next 5 minutes and with Marcus Morris dominating on the low block, with two 3 point plays and a block. Kansas continued to roll over the next 10 minutes and extended the lead out to 50 points, before the regulars were pulled for the game. Thomas Robinson saw extended action in the second half and looked impressive on defense, with 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Kansas dominated the game shooting 57 percent from the field to UCA’s 26 percent mark. KU turned the ball over just seven times, while forcing 19 Bears turnovers. KU also blocked eight shots. However, UCA out-rebounded Kansas 38-36, while grabbing nine offensive boards, which they turned into 12 points.
Kansas most effective weapon against the Bears was their balance on offense. The Jayhawks had 4 players tie for the team lead in points, with Xavier Henry, Sherron Collins, Marcus Morris, and Tyrel Reed all scoring 12 points apiece. Considering the Jayhawks only made 1 three point bucket against Memphis, coach Self was happy that the Jayhawks shot 58% from long range. Tyrel Reed led the way for the Jayhawks, going 4-5 after missing his first 6 three point attempts on the season. C.J. Henry also saw his first action of the season and looked in impressive, scoring 8 points in 9 minutes of play. He also drained two long 3 pointers and was 3-4 from the field for the game.
Kansas will host a pair of home games next week, facing Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 25 and Tennessee Tech on Friday, Nov. 27. Both games tipoff at 7 p.m. and will be televised on the Jayhawk Network.
Bill Selfs Thoughts On The Central Arkansas Game:
“We took care of the basketball; that’s a positive after pitching the ball all over the building Tuesday, so there were some good things,” Self said. “A lot of guys got a chance to play and play significant minutes, get a little rhythm. Some guys played pretty well, so I was happy about that.”
Key Stats:
Kansas did a nice job of passing the ball, dishing out 19 assists as a team on 33 made field goals. The Jayhawks only turned the ball over 7 times in the game.
Kansas shot 56.9% from the field and held Central Arkansas to 25.5%.
Kansas shot 70.8% from the free throw line, going 17-24.
