Kansas Rallies to Beat Pepperdine

Kansas Coach Roy Williams, fearing his sixth-ranked Jayhawks might be “fat and happy,” had some kind words about Pepperdine before Thursday’s game. He needn’t have worried.

Sluggish in their first action since winning the Great Alaska Shootout, the Jayhawks fumbled and stumbled against the Waves on Thursday before taking charge for a 76-61 win at Lawrence, Kan.

“I tried to convince them this was a very good basketball team we were playing, that they were a hard team to play against,” Williams said of the Waves (3-2).

Kenny Gregory helped Kansas (5-0) get back on track in the second half by triggering a 16-3 run that turned a 39-37 deficit into a 53-42 lead.

North Carolina Wilmington 68, Washington 59--The host Seahawks (4-1) shot 67% in the second half and held the backcourt of Washington (2-3) to one-of-19 shooting.

WOMEN

No. 23 Louisiana State 80, No. 2 Georgia 74--April Brown scored 25 points and Marie Ferdinand 21 for the Lady Tigers (5-1) against the Lady Bulldogs (7-1) at Athens, Ga.

No. 3 Tennessee 72, No. 17 Purdue 66--Tamika Catchings had 14 points at Knoxville, Tenn., and the Lady Vols (4-1) ended the Boilermakers’ 36-game winning streak. Purdue is 4-1.

No. 4 Louisiana Tech 80, Texas Arlington 31--Ayana Walker scored 21 points and the Bulldogs (3-1) forced the Mavericks (3-2) into 38 turnovers at Ruston, La.

No. 9 North Carolina 92, Maryland 79--LaQuandra Barksdale scored 22 points to help the Tar Heels (4-1) beat the Terps (4-2) at College Park, Md.

No. 14 Penn State 101, St. Francis (Pa.) 62--Lisa Shepherd scored 27 points at State College, Pa., and the Lady Lions (4-1) routed the Red Flash (1-3).

No. 22 Duke 101, Elon 44--Missy West scored 18 points as the Blue Devils (5-1) had little trouble with the Fightin’ Christians (3-3).

No. 25 Virginia Tech 66, James Madison 50--Tere Williams had 19 points at Harrisonburg, Va., to lead the Hokies (4-2) over the Dukes (2-3).