Kansas Men's Basketball Opens Canada Tour with 82-51 Win
Sept. 4, 2004
VANCOUVER – Kansas senior Wayne Simien scored 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks to an 82-51 win at the University of British Columbia, here Saturday.
“I thought we did some good things,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “I thought when we had our primary group in there, we played pretty well together.”
That primary group consisted of seniors Aaron Miles, Keith Langford, Michael Lee, and Simien for the Jayhawks. Sophomore Chritian Moody was the fifth starter for Kansas and chipped in six points in front of the estimated 2,200 at War Memorial Gym on the campus of UBC. Additionally approximately 6,000 KU fans watched the event at Memorial Stadium back in Lawrence, Kan.
“When you play a team like this they will exploit your weaknesses,” said UBC head coach Kevin Hanson. “Kansas is an outstanding team that is very talented.”
Simien did most of his damage against the Thunderbirds in the first half scoring 14 points and pulling down nine rebounds. KU broke open a 3-3 tie by scoring 10 straight points early on. At the 13:27 mark of the opening period Simien then took over scoring 12 points in the next seven minutes.
KU’s pressure defense allowed the Jayhawks to build a 17-point lead late in the first half at 39-22.
The second half saw KU’s defense wear out the Thunderbirds as youth took over for KU in freshmen Russell Robinson and C.J. Giles. Robinson scored six of his 12 points in a four minute stretch midway through the second half. Giles only had one of KU’s six blocked shots on the afternoon but altered many. In all KU used 13 players in the game with 11 of those playing 10 or more minutes.
The Jayhawks opened up their 39-25 halftime lead with a 9-2 run highlighted by four Simien points, a three-pointer from Langford, and another basket by Lee to make the score 48-27. KU forced 27 turnovers for the game and allowed only 14 field goals to its 33 on the afternoon.
The game marked the first of four exhibition contests the KU men’s basketball team is taking part in this Labor Day weekend. The Jayhawks will play a doubleheader tomorrow against Langara College at 1 p.m. (Central) at the same facility as today’s game and at University College of Fraser Valley at 9 p.m. (Central). The team concludes its tour of Canada with a single game on Monday against the Burnaby Mountain All-Stars at Simon Fraser University at 12:30 p.m. (Central).
Notes
--Senior Michael Lee left in the first half after colliding with a UBC player,which cause three stitches above the eye.Lee played nine of his 20 minutes in the second half and scored five points.--Following the game the Kansas team visited with family and fans to made the trip.Additionally, the Jayhawks took a group photo with two teams ofSpecial Olympians who scrimmaged during halftime of the game.--KU senior Aaron Miles welcomed many family members who made the short trip up fromhis hometown of Portland, Ore. Miles attended Jefferson High School in Portland.--Kansas has now won 17 straight exhibition games dating back to the 1996-97 season.
