Kansas Basketball Defeats Ohio 88-51 In Kansas City
Dec. 15, 2007
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Four Kansas starters scored in double figures, while the fifth, handed out 11 assists as the third-ranked Jayhawks defeated Ohio 88-51 in men’s basketball action at the Sprint Center here Saturday afternoon.
With the win third-ranked Kansas improved to 10-0, while Ohio fell to 6-3, while having its four-game winning streak stopped. The Bobcats were coming off a 61-55 win at Maryland earlier in the week.
Mario Chalmers scored a game-high 17 points, while Darrell Arthur added 14, Brandon Rush 13 and Darnell Jackson 11. Russell Robinson contributed a career-best 11 assists, while scoring six points and recording three steals.
No Jayhawk played more than 25 minutes in the game.
Ohio was led by Bert Whittington IV, who was the only Bobcat in double figures with 10 points.
Kansas shot 54 percent from the field, marking the eighth time in 10 games the Jayhawks have made more than 50 percent of their attempts. Meanwhile, KU held Ohio to just 28 percent shooting, the lowest by a Jayhawk opponent since Colorado hit just 27 percent in the 26th game of last year.
Kansas out-rebounded Ohio 46-27 and out-scored the Bobcats in the paint 42-18. Ohio tried to rely on outside shooting with 28 of its 60 attempts coming from behind the three-point line. Ohio was just 28 percent from beyond the arc making eight of 28 from deep.
After Ohio pulled within 10-9 on its third straight three-pointer, Kansas took over. The Jayhawks went on a 19-0 run before Ohio hit its first basket in nearly seven minutes, scoring at the 9:19 mark. The Jayhawks continued to pull away extending the 19-0 run into a 32-4 run to lead 42-13. Ohio went a total of 14:02 with just one basket and two free throws during that time.
Jackson scored six of his 11 first-half points in the 19-0 run. The senior made all five of first half field goal attempts as he and Rush led the way for Kansas.
KU shot 55 percent in the first half, while Ohio made just five of 29 shots for 17 percent. The Bobcats took more than half of their shots from behind the three point line, as they were just four of 17 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. In addition, OU was just one of 12 from inside the three-point line.
Kansas continued to dominate Ohio in the second half, outscoring the visitors 42-31 in the final 20 minutes. In all, 13 players saw action for KU with 11 of them reaching the scoring column.
The win gave KU a 10-0 record for the 11th time in school history as well as the first since the 2004-05 season. KU also improved to 187-74 in games played in Kansas City. The Jayhawks have now won 27 straight regular season games in Kansas City.
Kansas will travel to Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 18 for a game which will be televised on ESPN at 6 p.m. Central. Ohio will meet St. John’s in the Rainbow Classic on Wednesday.