Final, KU wins 78-54

KU made snapping Miami’s 44-game streak of holding opponents under 70 points look easy at times, cruising to a 78-54 win. Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur led the way for KU, as each scored 14 points. Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush each tallied 10, including Rush’s late layup which clinched the 70-point barrier being reached.

The Jayhawks now get a few days off for the holidays, and will return to action next Saturday at 7 p.m. to welcome Yale into Allen Fieldhouse.

:50, second half, KU leads 75-54

Sherron Collins hit one of two free throws for KU out of the timeout before taking a seat in place of Tyrel Reed, makking his second appearance on the floor today. Dwight McCombs scored two inside for Miami, only to be matched by Cole Aldrich on the other end, who took a nice feed from Jeremy Case in doing so.

Carl Richburg, cold off the bench, hit a three for the RedHawks with the game drawing under the five-minute mark and KU well in control. Jeremy Case then scored his first two of the game after a pair of Miami missed free throws. Brandon Rush followed it by scoring two to give KU 70, snapping Miami’s streak of 44 straight games of preventing opponents to do that. Tim Pollitz came back to score two, giving Miami’s second-leading scorer nine on the day.

7:16, second half, KU leads 63-39

Darnell Jackson earned praise from the home crowd for chaseing down an offensive rebound near the KU bench off a Brandon Rush three miss. Jackson then got himself to the free throw line and hit one of two, giving him 12 points on the day. Nick Winbush came down to hit a deep three. Jackson responded by throwing home a lobbed toss from Sherron Collins to make it a 25-point game.

Mario Chalmers then hit his second three of the game, inching KU closer to snapping Miami’s 70-and-under streak with a 59-31 score showing on the board. Sherron Collins made it a 30-point game at the 8:49 mark by driving in transition to give himself seven points on the afternoon.

Tim Pollitz hit a three from the corner after Miami called a quick timeout, and Dwight McCombs slammed home two off a Pollitz miss following a missed three for KU to give Miami a shot of life. Mario Chalmers came back down to lay one in and become the third Jayhawk to score in double figures, now with 10 points.

Kenny Hayes hit a three for Miami sending the game into a full break, with KU up by 24 points.

11:51, second half, KU leads 53-28

Kenny Hayes scored on a floater with the shot clock expiring out of the timeout to give himself eight points on the day. Russell Robinson tried to respond with a three, but saw it hit right iron, going back with the RedHawks.

Darrell Arthur scored again for KU, extending his game-high point total to 14 with a tip-in of a Sasha Kaun miss inside.

Miami called a full timeout just moments after the media timeout, and Sherron Collins opened up the scoring once play resumed with a swipe of an errant Kenny Hayes pass, swooping in for two on the other end. Another Miami turnover translated into the first points of the day for Rodrick Stewart, who threw one home with one hand in the open floor.

15:49, second half, KU leads 47-26

Tim Pollitz hit a two inside for Miami to start the second half scoring, with Darnell Jackson coming back with two of his own on a turnaround baseline jumper. Pollitz then scored again while drawing a foul on Jackson. His free throw missed, keeping KU up 41-24 in the second half’s early onset.

KU woke up the Allen Fieldhouse crowd when Mario Chalmers registered his third steal of the game, fed the ball long upcourt to Brandon Rush and saw it get flushed hard with two hands.

The KU big men continued to go to work, with Darrell Arthur and Jackson each scoring inside, sandwiched around a hoop by Miami’s Tyler Dierkers.

Halftime, KU leads 39-20

Miami was finally able to slug back a bit with Dwight McCombs throwing home a follow-up jam over the KU defense to quiet the home crowd a bit. Miami then took the ball back again after an offensive call against Kaun, and Eric Pollitz scored his first points of the game for Miami. Darrell Arthur came back to score his seventh and eighth points on yet another turnaround shot from close range. Miami’s response was a three from Michael Bramos.

Arthur scored again, this time slamming home two off of a nifty feed inside on a drive by Sherron Collins, making Arthur the first Jayhawk in double figures on the day with 10 points.

KU was an efficient 16-of-29 from the floor in the first half, and has put itself on pace to be the first team in 45 tries to score 70-plus points against the RedHawks. Darrell Arthur led the way for KU with 10 points, while Darnell Jackson has seven and Sasha Kaun five. Mario Chalmers also has five points. Miami was held to a 7-of-25 showing from the field.

3:42, first half, KU leads 35-13

Mario Chalmers’ took control of a Miami turnover out of the timeout, went the other way and instead of dishing in transition finished himself above the rim.

From there, it became a free throw battle for a bit. First, Kenny Hayes hit two for Miami, then Cole Aldrich hit both sides of a bonus one-and-one trip to the stripe. Hayes earned his way back to the line on Miami’s next trip, and again sunk both, giving him a team-high six points.

Mario Chalmers then broke the monotony, as Russell Robinson kicked out from deep under the hoop to the junior guard atop the key. Chalmers hit a three, giving him five points. Darnell Jackson followed it with a tip-in on the other end after Brandon Rush missed a driving layup to put KU up 33-13 with just under five minutes to go in the half.

Darrell Arthur scored his third field goal of the game after coming back into the game for Jackson, flipping in a turnaround baby hook off the rim.

7:47, first half, KU leads 24-9

Michael Bramos ended the Miam drought with a three from the wing out of the TV timeout. Brandon Rush tried to answer back with a three of his own, but the long rebound was drawn down by Kenny Hayes. Rush then tried to score again, but his layup look in transition rattled off the rim. After KU took the ball back when it went out of bounds off of Miami, Rush slashed down the baseline and flushed home a two-handed dunk for his first points of the afternoon.

Rush scored again after Darnell Jackson collected a defensive board on the other end, this time swishing two from long range on the left wing to put KU up 24-9.

11:26, first half, KU leads 20-6

Out of the game’s first full break, Sherron Collins checked in and casually cashed a three-pointer from atop the key. Then, after an aired three on the Miami end, Darnell Jackson lofted a lob pass for Sasha Kaun, which brought the crowd to its feet and forced the RedHawks to call a quick timeout, now down by six.

KU kept the points coming, as Sasha Kaun then took an entry feed and slipped in two under the glass while drawing contact. He hit his free throw, and after Miami again failed to stop the bleeding, Darnell Jackson took an offensive rebound right back up for two with a foul on top of it. His free throw gave KU an 11-0 run and an 18-6 lead.

Darrell Arthur became the third different post player to score in a matter of minutes, making it a 20-6 game with a sweet turnaround jumper on the baseline, forcing Miami to call its second 30-second timeout of the half.

14:48, first half, KU leads 7-6

Miami’s Alex Moosmann controlled the game’s opening tip, and the RedHawks scored right away with Adam Fletcher putting away a baseline jumper. Darrell Arthur answered back, needing four tries to finish off two inside, but eventually doing so to tie the game 2-2.

After an offensive foul call on Fletcher, Darnell Jackson came down to score a short two.

Tim Pollitz, Miami’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder tried to go hard to the rack the next trip down but was short off the iron, with Darrell Arthur collecting his fourth rebound so far.

Jackson went diving after a loose ball following an empty KU possession, and wound up needing some medical assistance after banging his head on the floor.

Kenny Hayes drove and scored on the ensuing possession for Miami, but Russell Robinson came down and drilled his first three of the game to put KU up 7-4. Tim Pollitz, after grabbing another offensive board, scored for Miami to keep it close at 7-6.

Pregame

After securing its second road win of the season in as many tries, KU returns home for one last sliver of action before taking a few days off for Christmas.

If the Jayhawks want to go into the holiday season 12-0, however, they’ll certainly have to earn it. Today, in a noon tipoff, KU welcomes in 5-4 Miami (Ohio), an NCAA Tournament team a year ago who is coming off of a huge road win Thursday night in a 61-58 overtime thriller at Illinois.

KU played two nights earlier on the road in Atlanta, knocking off Georgia Tech 71-66. It was more of a survival than a win, though, as KU let a 13-point lead nearly evaporate completely in the game’s final 10 minutes. The Jayhawks were forced to play more conservatively than they had all season, hoisting just 46 shot attempts, which was by far a season-low.

Miami (Ohio) comes in with a reputation as a defensive-minded ballclub, having not allowed over 70 points in a game this season to an opponent. KU, on the other hand, is averaging 83.7 per contest, making it a situation where something will have to give.