🏀 Kansas Rolls Past Nevada 88-61 to Close out 2021

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Christian Braun scored a team-high 22 points and four Kansas players reached double figures as the Jayhawks rolled past Nevada, 88-61, on Wednesday, Dec. 29, at Allen Fieldhouse.

With the win, the Jayhawks move to 10-1 on the year while improving to 6-0 at home this season. The loss drops Nevada to 6-5 on the year.

Kansas shot 57.7% from the field in the first half, which included hitting 4-of-7 (57.1%) from beyond the arc and built a lead of 39-27 at the break. The Jayhawks scored the first eight points of the game and build a lead of double figures by the second media timeout.

Nevada used a 5-0 run to get within six, 24-18, at the 8:19 mark, but a 7-0 run by the Jayhawks pushed the lead back to 13. KU would end the half in style, breaking a 7-0 Nevada run with consecutive 3-pointers from Christian Braun and Remy Martin, followed by a windmill dunk from Ochai Agbaji to push the lead to 12 at half. Braun led the way for the Jayhawks with 14 first-half points.

The teams played even at the start of the second half, but the Jayhawks used two big runs to put the game away. KU held the Wolf Pack without a basket for better than four minutes while using a 12-0 run to build a lead of 61-36 with 12:51 to play. Included in the run were 3-pointers by DaJuan Harris, Jr., and Martin along with back-to-back fast break dunks by Agbaji.

Nevada was able to pull within 16 points in the second half, before KU scored 11 straight points in less than two minutes and pushed the lead to 80-53 with 4:30 to play.

Braun led the Jayhawks with 22 points, which is good for his fourth 20-point game of the season and seventh of his career. He was joined in double figures by Agbaji, who scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

Harris set a new career-high with 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field while also dishing out five assists. David McCormack also reached double figures, scoring 14 points to go with six rebounds.

Kansas returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 1, at 4 p.m. CT against George Mason, a game that was recently added to the schedule to replace the original Big 12 opener against TCU, which was postponed.

The Jayhawks will now open the 2021-22 Big 12 Conference season at Oklahoma State on Tuesday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.