COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Kansas ‘Unselfish’ in 140-72 Blowout

Fourth-ranked Kansas used 13 players and all scored to play a part in the Jayhawks’ running up the second-highest point total in school history with a 140-72 rout of Oral Roberts on Thursday night in a nonconference game at Lawrence, Kan.

In fact it was the Jayhawk bench that did the most damage. Three Jayhawk reserves, led by Patrick Richey with 23 points, had career highs. With only one starter playing more than 16 minutes, the bench totaled 84 points.

“There were some players I wanted to see get a lot of minutes,” Kansas Coach Roy Williams said. “I was pleased with our focus and I thought we were extremely unselfish.”

The only time the Jayhawks scored more points was during a 150-95 romp over Kentucky on Dec. 9, 1989.

Kansas (13-1), in its 95th year of basketball, won its 1,499th game, one short of joining North Carolina and Kentucky as the only schools with 1,500 victories.

“This is a hundred years of tradition here,” Oral Roberts Coach Ken Trickey said. “You take all the schools in Oklahoma and put them together and it doesn’t compare with Kansas.”

The margin of victory against Oral Roberts (3-10) was the Jayhawks’ second biggest ever. They defeated Brown, 115-45, on Jan. 3, 1989.

Joining Richey with career highs were Greg Ostertag with 21 points and Greg Gurley with 16. Seven Kansas players reached double figures, including Adonis Jordan with 17 points and Rex Walters with 15.

Kansas shot 66% in the first half, including eight of nine three-pointers. The Titans managed only 29% shooting in the first half.

The Jayhawks hit the 100-point mark 6 1/2 minutes into the second half on Gurley’s jumper from the wing.

It was a bad night all around for Oral Roberts. The women’s team got beat by top-ranked Vanderbilt, 124-58.

No. 10 Oklahoma 102, Nebraska 89--Terry Evans scored 29 points to lead the Sooners in a Big Eight Conference game at Norman, Okla.

Oklahoma (12-3, 1-1) overcame a 12-point first-half deficit to avoid losing its second consecutive home game.

Nebraska (11-4, 0-1) trailed, 15-8, when Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs inserted five players in place of his starters. The Sooners (12-3, 1-1) then saw Nebraska go on a 16-2 run in the next four minutes.

“We went into the game with the idea that we would do that regardless of how well we were playing or how poorly we were playing,” Tubbs said. “The only thing that was bad about it is I put them in the wrong defense.”

Erick Strickland took advantage, making three consecutive three-pointers during the run that gave the Cornhuskers a 24-17 lead. Tubbs brought his starters back after the four-minute collapse. Nebraska was able to stretch its lead to 39-27 before Evans and the Sooners rallied.

Evans scored nine points in the final 6 1/2 minutes of the half when Oklahoma outscored the Cornhuskers, 21-4.

Jeff Webster added 19 points and Bryatt Vann 18 for Oklahoma.

No. 18 Nevada Las Vegas 88, Pacific 71--J.R. Rider scored 37 points to lift the Rebels in a Big West Conference game at Las Vegas.

UNLV (8-1, 3-1) has won 26 in a row against Pacific (6-7, 2-2), including the last 12 at Las Vegas. The Tigers, who had won five of six coming into the game, have not beaten UNLV since 1972.

The Rebels also extended their home winning streak to 52 games and have won their last 41 against Big West opponents at the Thomas & Mack Center.

No. 25 Utah 61, Air Force 47--Josh Grant scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Utes in a Western Athletic Conference game at Air Force.

The score was tied, 36-36, when Utah (11-2, 4-0) went on a 25-11 run with 12:50 to play. Grant scored 12 points during the spurt. Air Force (7-7, 1-4) was led by Patrick Sanders, who scored a personal-best 13 points and had seven rebounds.

OTHER GAMES

James Dockery scored 21 points and Darrin Jackson added 17 as New Mexico State (10-4, 3-1) posted an 87-72 victory over San Jose State (3-8, 0-3) in a Big West game at Las Cruces, N.M. The Aggies, coming off a 26-point loss on the road to Cal State Long Beach last Saturday, never trailed in winning their 11th consecutive game against the Spartans. . . . Jay Goodman scored a season-high 27 points, had 11 assists and five steals to lead Utah State (6-5, 3-1) to a 75-65 Big West victory over UC Santa Barbara (8-3, 1-2) at Logan, Utah. Goodman made eight free throws in the final 4:05 to clinch the win for the Aggies. Utah State did not score a field goal in the last 7:26, but made 14 of 16 free throws down the stretch. . . . Jared Miller scored 18 points to lead Brigham Young (10-5, 3-1) to a 72-57 Western Athletic Conference victory over Fresno State (7-7, 2-3) at Fresno. . . . Gylan Dottin scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds as San Diego (7-6, 2-0) won its fourth in a row, 70-51, over St. Mary’s (4-8, 0-1) in a West Coast Conference game at San Diego. . . . Mark Schmitz scored a personal-best 29 points as Santa Clara (7-7, 1-1) withstood second-half foul and turnover problems to post a 91-80 West Coast Conference victory over San Francisco (10-5, 0-1) at Santa Clara.

Fred Hoiberg scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half to help Iowa State (9-4, 1-1) to an 81-72 Big Eight victory over Oklahoma State (8-3, 0-2) at Ames, Iowa. Iowa State won under assistant coach Jim Hallihan, who filled in when Coach Johnny Orr went home about 90 minutes before tipoff, complaining of feeling weak and dizzy. . . . Rob Robinson scored 26 points, including 16 in the second half, to lead Niagara (10-1, 2-0) to an 83-64 victory over Manhattan (8-5, 0-1) in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Niagra, N.Y. . . . Derrick Smith scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half to lead a 13-1 second-half run as Houston (8-2, 1-0) posted an 81-67 Southwestern Conference victory over Texas (5-6, 0-3) at Houston. . . . Bershurn Thompson scored seven of North Carolina Charlotte’s final 14 points as the 49ers (6-6, 1-1) pulled away in the last 6:03 for a 65-56 victory over Virginia Tech (4-4, 0-3) in a Metro Conference game at Blacksburg, Va. . . . Keith LeGree scored five points and Greg Minor had four during a 13-2 run in the second half that carried Louisville (7-4, 3-0) to a 77-68 Metro Conference victory Virginia Commonwealth (8-4, 1-1) at Louisville. Louisville Coach Denny Crum missed the game after being hospitalized Wednesday because of intestinal flu. Ervin Johnson’s 22 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots helped New Orleans (11-1, 5-0) extend its winning streak to eight games with a 60-58 Sun Belt Conference victory over Arkansas State (6-6, 3-2) at New Orleans. . . . Carlos Cofield and Abdul Fox each scored 21 points as Rhode Island (9-3, 2-0) opened its Atlantic 10 home schedule with a 96-82 victory over St. Bonaventure (7-3, 0-2) at Kingston, R.I. . . . Kareem Townes scored 26 points and Paul Burke added 22 points and 11 assists as La Salle (5-7, 1-2) posted an 80-73 overtime victory over Detroit Mercy (9-4, 1-1) in a Midwest Collegiate Conference game at Philadelphia that featured 71 three-point attempts. . . . Michael Allen scored 26 points as Southwest Louisiana (8-6, 2-2) posted a 90-84 victory over Jacksonville (2-8, 0-3) in a Sun Belt Conference game at Jacksonville.