National Basketball Association
Kansas 89, Davidson 71
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2016
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Officials:
# Don Daily, # Paul Janssen, # Chance Moore
Attendance:
17820
By The Sports Xchange
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- One minute, the Davidson Wildcats looked primed for a big upset. The next, Kansas had run away and hid.
The third-ranked Jayhawks turned a close game into a runaway with an 18-3 run in the second half, rolling to an 89-71 victory over Davidson at the Sprint Center.
Josh Jackson and Frank Mason each scored 18 points, and Carlton Bragg and Landen Lucas combined for 15 points and 16 rebounds off the bench as the Jayhawks (10-1) won for the 10th straight time this season and 49th in a row at home. Davidson dropped to 5-4 after returning from a 10-day break for finals.
The Jayhawks blitzed Davidson with runs of 8-0 and 18-3 in the second half to pull away for the win. While happy with what his team did in the final 20 minutes, Kansas coach Bill Self was more impressed with the 11,000 or so who showed up on a bitterly cold night with the wind-chill outside below the zero mark. Over 17,000 tickets were sold.
"Eleven thousand in this weather, wow, that's some loyal supporters there," Self said. "Considering what the weather was like. I just hope they can get home safely."
The week-long layoff didn't help Kansas' outside shooting, at least not in the first half. The Jayhawks, who came into the game as the sixth-best 3-point shooting team in the country, were 0 of 8 behind the arc in the first half and trailed at intermission (43-42) for just the second time this season.
Davidson then built a five-point lead (49-44) early in the second half on back-to-back 3-pointers by Will McGarity and Peyton Aldridge. It took Kansas just 84 seconds to erase the deficit and take a three-point lead of its own after Jackson and Mason knocked down Kansas' first 3-pointers of the game and Jackson followed with a putback.
It was still a three-point Kansas lead (63-60) with 9:36 remaining when Mason started an 18-3 run with a pair of free throws. He and Lagerald Vick added 3-pointers during the run as Kansas opened up a 16-point advantage (78-62) with 5:22 left.
"They just annihilated us in the paint, in second-chance points and they annihilated us in transition," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "I think those were penal factors. They really capitalized in all those areas."
Jackson added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals to go along with his 18 points, while Lucas and Bragg had big games off the bench.
"I thought they played very well," Self said. "Landen was really good. They gave a lot of good minutes out there tonight."
Mason collected eight rebounds of his own, while playing tenacious defense against Davidson guard Jack Gibbs, who entered the game as the nation's fourth-leading scorer (24.3 points per game), but made just 3 of 14 shots and finished with a season-low 12 points.
"We knew he liked to attack the elbow and I had a lot of help from my teammates," Mason said. "He's a really good player."
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, who was making his first career start, added 13 points and Devonte' Graham scored 10 for the Jayhawks, who play one more nonconference game (Thursday at UNLV) before setting their sights on a 13th consecutive Big 12 title with a Dec. 30 conference opener at TCU.
"The second half we came out and played. I've got nothing negative (to say) about how we played in the second half," Self said. "I thought we played smart and i think they may have gotten a little tired."
Davidson was led by Peyton Aldridge with 22 points. The Wildcats knocked down 10 3-pointers, but shot just 36 percent from the field in the second half and couldn't keep pace with the Jayhawks. Nathan Ekwu added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
NOTES: Saturday's game marked the first time in eight years Davidson has played back-to-back games against Top 5 opponents. The Wildcats dropped an 83-74 decision to then No. 5-ranked North Carolina on Dec. 7. ... Wildcats G Jack Gibbs' 30-point effort against North Carolina pushed Davidson's senior star over the 1,500 points for his career, the 15th player in school history to reach that plateau. ... Jayhawks F Carlton Bragg was back on the court for Kansas following a one-game suspension after being reinstated by coach Bill Self. Bragg was suspended indefinitely after being arrested on Dec. 9 on suspicion of domestic battery. The charges were dropped five days later Lawrence law enforcement officials reviewed surveillance video. ... Kansas holds the longest home court winning streak in the country at 49 straight. Three of those wins have come in the Sprint Center, which is considered part of Kansas' home ticket package.
Top Game Performances
Kansas |
|
Davidson |
Josh Jackson 18 |
Scoring |
Peyton Aldridge 22 |
Frank Mason 7 |
Assists |
Jack Gibbs 6 |
Carlton Bragg Jr. 8 |
Rebounds |
Peyton Aldridge 8 |
Frank Mason 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Jack Gibbs 4 |
Devonte' Graham 3 |
Steals |
Will Magarity 2 |
Devonte' Graham 2 |
Blocks |
Will Magarity 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Kansas
|
89 |
48.5 |
6-21 |
17-24 |
16 |
39 |
5 |
10 |
6 |
Davidson
|
71 |
42.9 |
10-27 |
13-20 |
12 |
33 |
1 |
4 |
13 |