🏀 Jayhawks Pull Away to Defeat Santa Clara 80-65
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas outscored Santa Clara 25-11 in the fourth quarter as the Jayhawks stayed unbeaten at home with an 80-65 victory on Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The win improves Kansas to 8-1 on the year and 7-0 at home, while Santa Clara falls to 5-2.
Four Jayhawks scored in double digits, led by Ioanna Chatzileonti with 15 points. Chatzileonti went 5-for-5 from the field and added three rebounds in 18 minutes of action. Chandler Prater scored a career-high 14 points, while Taiyanna Jackson had 13 and Aniya Thomas added 11.
The Jayhawks led 16-11 after the first quarter, but Santa Clara caught fire in the second, hitting five three-pointers to take a 35-32 lead into the locker room. KU quickly erased the deficit with an 8-0 run to open the third quarter, which featured five lead changes. The Jayhawks took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Mia Vuksic in the closing seconds of the third.
Leading 55-54 at the end of three, Kansas would score the first seven points of the fourth quarter and then hold at least a two-possession lead for the remainder of the game. KU outscored Santa Clara 25-11 in the fourth and 48-30 in the second half as the Jayhawks overcame a halftime deficit to earn a victory for the second straight game.
"We had a lot of players step up and make plays for us at different times today. I would look at that lineup we had at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth. It wasn’t all starters, there were some reserves that were very good and I thought they were the difference in the game."
Kansas Coach Brandon Schneider
KU shot better than 50% from the field for the fifth time this season, hitting 29-of-56 field goal attempts for a 51.8 percent shooting. The Jayhawks also dished out a season-high 20 assists, the most since finishing with 21 in a victory over Oral Roberts on Dec. 6, 2020.
Up Next
The Jayhawks now have their longest gap between games during the regular season. Kansas will play its first true road game of the season against Wichita State on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 6 p.m. at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita.
Notes
- Kansas remained undefeated at home this season, improving to 7-0 at Allen Fieldhouse.
- Kansas had four players score in double figures for the second time this season (Nov. 17 vs. Omaha). The quartet included sophomore Ioanna Chatzileonti (15), redshirt-sophomore Chandler Prater (14), junior Taiyanna Jackson (13) and senior Aniya Thomas (11).
- Kansas was 16-of-20 (80.0 percent) from the free throw line. The Jayhawks have now shot 80.0 percent or better from the charity stripe in three contests this season.
- Kansas recorded 10 steals on Sunday, its sixth game this season with double-digit steals.
- Kansas outscored Santa Clara 44-24 on points in the paint.
- Kansas finished the final 2:46 of the game on a 13-2 run.
- Junior Taiyanna Jackson had 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds, two assists and a career-high-tying three blocks in 23 minutes of action.
- Redshirt-sophomore Chandler Prater scored a career-high-tying 14 points on 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) shooting, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists in 27 minutes.
- Senior Aniya Thomas contributed 11 points, five rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes on the floor.
- Junior Zakiyah Franklin added a season-high seven assists, along with five points and three rebounds in 30 minutes.
