Final, KU wins 85-47

Getting the ball consistently into the paint had been a concern for Bill Self following recent games, but in Wednesday’s 85-47 stomping of Eastern Washington, KU addressed the issue early and often.

Darnell Jackson finished with a team-high 17 points to go with nine rebounds, while Darrell Arthur scored 15. The two combined to score the Jayhakws’ first 15 points of the night and take seven of the Jayhawks’ first eight shot attempts.

Brandon Rush hit a late three to give himself a final line showing nine points and 10 rebounds. Mario Chalmers, who was the Jayhawks’ top offensive weapon in last Sunday’s win over Southern Cal, only scored six points, but was a busy man elsewhere, with six steals and eight assists.

The No. 3 Jayhawks, now 8-0 on the season, are home again Saturday at 1 p.m. to face DePaul, who they fell to in Chicago in last year’s inaugural road game, 64-57.

3:35, second half, KU leads 71-37

Cole Aldrich scored his first field goal of the night on a follow-up of a Russell Robinson miss to give himself four points with the game dwindling below the five-minute mark. But KU’s five on the floor – Robinson, Jackson, Rush, Chalmers and Aldrich – began to sputter, forcing Bill Self into a mass substitution, replacing everyone but Rush.

7:00, second half, KU leads 67-33

Darnell Jackson scored off a feed into the post from Rodrick Stewart out of the full timeout, giving him 13 points on the night. The possession was created thanks to a nifty steal from Tyrel Reed while chasing down a defensive board.

Reed then scored his first points of the night on a fast break by pulling up to drain a midrange jumper and put KU up 61-33.

Jackson then took a feed in the hi-lo from Cole Aldrich, and earned his way to the free throw line yet again. By sinking two more, Jackson tied himself with Darrell Arthur – apparently done for the night – with a game-high 15 points.

Off a miss by EWU a minute later, Tyrel Reed went crashing to the floor and limped his way back down the court. He came off the floor after a 30-second timeout call by Bill Self. After that, Darnell Jackson went back to work, scoring two more to give himself 17 on the night, and after a vicious Cole Aldrich block, Mario Chalmers scooted to the other end for his fifth and sixth points of the night on a transition layup to put KU up 67-33.

10:55, second half, KU leads 57-33

Darrell Arthur went to work atop the key out of the timeout, stroking a three from straight on, giving himself 15 points on the night and putting KU up by a comfy 24 point pad at 52-28.

Sasha Kaun then put on a bit of an exclamation point by throwing home an alley-oop lob from Mario Chalmers. While the crowd erupted, Chalmers tugged at his jersey in front of Bill Self for a breather. After Tyrel Reed checked in for him at the next break, Chalmers sprinted for the locker room.

Chalmers returned in a moment, and even checked back into the game just past the 12-minute mark, but KU’s offense sputtered in a couple or trips down the floor, keeping its lead at 47-33 at the 10:55 mark.

15:49, second half, KU leads 49-26

KU took the ball to start the second half, and Darnell Jackson put in a Rodrick Stewart short miss, recording his fifth rebound in the process. The bucket gave Jackson nine points on the night. Kellen Williams responded for EWU with a three to make himself the second Eagle in double digits tonight. Jackson then got board No. 6 after a Trey Gross miss.

Mario Chalmers got his first points of the night after drawing contact on a drive to the hoop following the Gross miss. He hit a pair of free throws, making KU 11-of-15 from the line.

Chalmers then went ahead and recorded his fifth steal of the night to set up Russell Robinson in the open floor. Robinson drew contact on an awkward layup try. He hit both, making him six-of-six from the line on the evening.

Chalmers scored again, leaning in off of a Darrell Arthur steal, and after KU forced another EWU turnover in the full court press, Russell Robinson dished out his third assist of the night for Rodrick Stewart, who slashed in for an easy bucket.

Gary Gibson fouled out for EWU at the 16:40 mark after hacking Darnell Jackson in the post. Jackson went to the line and hit a pair of charities, making him the second Jayhawk in double figures with 11 points, four coming so far in the second half.

Halftime, KU leads 37-23

Adris DeLeon hit a three-pointer up atop the key, forcing Bill Self to call a 30-second timeout late in the first half. On the offensive trip out of the short break, Brandon Rush got to the line for a one-and-one, but missed the front end, sending teh ball back with the Eagles inside of the two-minute mark.

Jeremy Case forced a steal at midcourt with less than a minute to go, but couldn’t finish in a hurry on the other end. After a Brandon Rush follow missed, too, the Eagles took the ball. Andris DeLeon dropped in an awkward two with the clock expiring, giving him 10 points before the free throw that came with the foul on the play. He hit it to make it a 14-point game, allowing the Jayhawks to hold for the half’s final shot. Case missed a three before the buzzer, keeping it a 37-23 count at the break.

Darrell Arthur led all scorers in the first half with 12, while fellow starting forward Darnell Jackson notched seven. Russell Robinson also had seven for KU, which was a somewhat-efficient 13-of-28 from the floor in the first half.

3:01, first half, KU leads 35-17

Darnell Jackson was called for a charge out of the timeout trying to score two inside. On the other end, Kellen Williams put in an acrobatic two off the glass. The ball was turned over on the other end thanks to Williams’ pressure on Sasha Kaun in the paint.

KU tried to capitalize off another empty EWU possession, but Mario Chalmers threw a lob that was a bit too high for Rodrick Stewart. Kaun collected the board and was fouled going back up. He took to the line and dropped in both free throws, giving points now to all four of the big men in KU’s regular rotation. The foursome has combined for 23 of KU’s 28 points so far.

Russell Robinson then swiped an Eagles pass at midcourt and took one himself the other way, but was fouled on his way up to get to the line. Just like Kaun before him, he tucked away a pair, putting KU up 30-12.

Robinson then put away a three atop the key after the Jayhawk defense forced EWU into a turnover following a missed shot. Williams then scored for EWU to give himself seven points, following up a missed Milan Stanojevic three look.

Russell Robinson recorded another swipe for the Jayhawks and this time dealt it to Brandon Rush, who flushed home two on the fast break. Gary Gibson hit a three for EWU, and after KU couldn’t convert inside on the next possession had a chance to chip back in a little more to an 18-point deficit. An inside look caught nothing but air, though. Darrell Arthur tried to score for the first time since coming back in but was short on a 12-foot jumper. Russell Robinson was fouled before the game went into its final full break of the first half, with KU leading 35-17.

7:49, first half, KU leads 26-10

Adris DeLeon sank a three out of the timeout to pull EWU within 10 again, but Brandon Rush came back to score his first points of the game, working in between traffic and flipping one up off the glass from a few feet out.

Arthur put himself in double digits off a feed to the post which he easily converted off the glass. This came on the heels of DeLeon having a shot blocked in the key on the other end.

KU continued to attack the paint, with Cole Aldrich taking a dish following a Gary Gibson two for EWU. Aldrich was fouled, and got himself to the line to swish home his first two of the game. He then took a seat to make room for Sasha Kaun, now back in the game following an injury.

Arthur continued to go to work against an overmatched EWU frontcourt. He kept calling for the ball and continued to spill in buckets off the glass, with his latest one giving him a game-high 12 points.

11:13, first half, KU leads 18-13

After the timeout, the game halted again momentarily when Sasha Kaun went down in a heap just to the right of the key on the defensive end.

Darnell Jackson came back into the game after a short breather, but Darrell Arthur scored again, thanks to an inside feed from Chalmers. He slammed it home with two hands, slapping the glass afterwards. It gave him a game-high eight points before he took a breather.

A few sloppy, empty possessions came after that on both sides, with the ball changing hands quickly. KU finally slowed it down with a possession at the 12-minute mark, but a long Mario Chalmers three missed long. After EWU couldn’t answer, Rodrick Stewart hit a three at the 11:29 mark to end the two-sided offensive drought. It put KU up 18-5.

After an EWU timeout, Tyrel Reed made his first appearance since sitting since last Sunday, when he sprained his ankle against Arizona. That was followed by a traveling call against EWU, sending the game into a media timeout.

15:09, first half, KU leads 13-3

Eastern Washington’s Gary Gibson controlled the game’s opening tip, but after working the perimeter a bit, Darrell Arthur flashed out and created a swipe atop the key. On the break, he fed Darnell Jackson, who was fouled on his way up to the rim.

Jackson hit just the second of his two free throws, putting KU up 1-0, but Arthur recorded another steal immediately on the other end. This time, Mario Chalmers missed a layup inside, but after getting his own board thanks to an Arthur tip, the sophomore made a nifty move in the paint and put in two off the glass.

After an EWU miss, Arthur again made a nice post move, scoring again to put KU up 5-0 just under two minutes in. EWU finally got its first shot attempt, but after Darnell Jackson collected a rebound, he took a lob feed on the other end from Mario Chalmers, throwing home a two-handed dunk to make it 7-0.

Eastern Washington’s Trey Gross missed a three look atop the key. KU came back down and again went to the post. Jackson was fouled again, but this time missed both free throws, keeping KU’s lead where it was already at.

EWU’s leading scorer, Kellen Williams then put his team on the board for the first time with a three, but Darnell Jackson made it moot on the other end. After a Darrell Arthur miss, he atoned for hs missed free throws by saving a loose ball by throwing it over his head. Chalmers collected it and fed Jackson for a dunk inside. Jackson then scored again inside after another EWU miss, giving him seven of KU’s first 11 points. Arthur then scored after an EWU timeout, giving KU’s starting forward’s the team’s first 13 points.

Pregame

After pulling out a sloppy win in Southern California Sunday – a 59-55 edging of USC – the Jayhawks return to Allen Fieldhouse tonight to take on Eastern Washington in a building where KU has dominated nonconference competition so far this season.

The No. 4 Jayhawks (7-0) welcome the Eagles (4-6) tonight in the first of two games this week, as KU gets a chance to avenge last season’s loss to DePaul Saturday when the Blue Demons make the trip West. As for EWU, however, the Eagles are attempting to become the first Big Sky opponent to beat KU – ever. The Jayhawks are 9-0 lifetime against the league’s members, including an 87-46 win a couple of weeks ago on Thanksgiving eve.

KU had one of its poorer offensive showings in recent memories against USC’s stingy defense, but produced just enough. KU shot just 37.9 percent from the field, but junior guard Mario Chalmers went nuts with a 17-point second half, including a three-pointer from 25 feet away against an expiring shot clock to deliver the final dagger.

Eastern Washington has struggled early after the defection of junior guard Rodney Stuckey into last June’s NBA Draft – where he was selected 15th overall by the Detroit Pistons. The Eagles are led by senior forward Kellen Williams, who is averaging 10.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game this year. This is EWU’s second game in the area in three days. Monday night, the Eagles knocked off UMKC, 65-54, at Municipal Auditorium.