Marcus Morris Leads No. 6 Jayhawks Past Ohio

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Nov. 26, 2010

Box Score | Notes

LAS VEGAS, Nev. –

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Junior Marcus Morris scored a career-high-tying 26 points to lead No. 6 Kansas past Ohio 98-41 during its first game of the Las Vegas Invitational Friday evening.

With the win, KU improved to 5-0 for the second-straight season, while Ohio dropped to 3-2 on the year.

Kansas held the Bobcats to an opponent season-low 23.7 percent shooting from the field compared to KU’s 56.4 percent accuracy en route to its largest win margin of the season at 57 points.

Redshirt freshman Travis Releford joined Morris in double-figure scoring adding a career-high 13 points in the effort. Junior Markieff Morris contributed 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds along with Marcus and sophomore Jeff Withey. Withey’s eight boards were a career best as well as his team-leading four blocked shots.

Tied at 2-2 early in the game, KU held Ohio without a field goal for nearly four minutes while the Jayhawks expanded their lead to 12-2. With 8:31 left to play in the first half, Marcus Morris hit a pair of free throws to jumpstart a 12-2 run by the Jayhawks, including six points from Marcus, as Kansas increased its advantage to 35-14. Marcus finished with 18 of his team-high 26 points in the first 20 minutes.

Ohio went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final minutes of the half to lessen its deficit to 43-20 heading into the break.

Withey came off the bench to provide Kansas with some quality minutes in the opening half as he racked up five rebounds, already a season-high, and three points in just six minutes of floor time. He logged a career-high 15 minutes of playing time on the night.

Kansas went on a 17-2 run to start the second half and take a commanding 60-22 lead as it continued to pull well out of reach of the Bobcats shooting 72.4 percent from the field during the last 20 minutes.

With just over seven minutes to play in the game, the Jayhawks continued to extend its advantage scoring 19 unanswered points, capped by an Elijah Johnson three-pointer. Johnson scored seven of his eight points in the second half.

The Jayhawks conclude the Las Vegas Invitational when it takes on Arizona on Friday, Nov. 27 at 9:30 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on ESPN2.