Final, KU wins 85-62

Mario Chalmers’ sixth three of the game gave him a game-high 21 points and sent a few fans for the exits with the outcome now all but decided at the 2:53 mark.

Cole Aldrich checked in for the first time for KU with 2:31 to go, and UMKC coach Matt Brown emptied his bench with the game’s result now decided.

A Mario Chalmers layup off a steal with over a minute left was the final piece to his sound evening on the floor.

KU wasn’t all that sound defensively and committed some silly errors, but eventually pulled away in its second game of the regular season. Mario Chalmers scored a game-high 23points, hitting several of his six three-pointers in key moments when KU needed a pick-me-up. Russell Robinson hit three longballs of his own, finishing with 15, while Darrell Arther had 13 and both Sasha Kaun and Sherron Collins scored 10 apiece.

KU is off until Thursday, when the Jayhawks face Washburn in Allen Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.

3:12, second half, KU leads 78-60

Brent Stephens came back into the game for UMKC and immediately hurled up a shot from the right wing. He couldn’t hit, sending it back with KU and just 5:25 left on the game clock.

Sherron Collins’ first three attempt since coming back into the game had his signature arc, but was off-line, giving UMKC the ball trailing by 15. The ‘Roos couldn’t score on an awkward drive to the basket by Reggie Hamilton, and Mario Chalmers continued to close the coffin with yet another three, giving him a game-high 18 points.

After Jeremiah Hartsock scored with a pair of free throws, Darrell Arthur became the fifth Jayhawk to enter double digits in the point column, slamming home his ninth and tenth points of the night.

Brent Stephens aired a three, furthering UMKC’s decline down the stretch with KU up by 18 and a little over three minutes left on the clock.

6:06, second half, KU leads 73-58

Stewart missed the accompanying free throw, and UMKC’s Dane Brumagin’s big second half continued, as he hit his second three of the stanza to again make it a 12-point game.

Darnell Jackson came back down to take a feed from Mario Chalmers, scoring his first points of the game off the glass. Mario Chalmers then took the ball away on defense and drove to the lane coast-to-coast, but his second missed dunk of the game was followed by Jackson laying in another two off the miss.

Jackson then tipped in a Russell Robinson lob after a Jeremiah Hartsock three, and Sherron Collins came back into the game for KU from the locker room.

7:49, second half, KU leads 67-52

Darrell Arthur was fouled trying to complete a lob play out of the timeout, and hit one of two free throws to extend KU’s lead a tad to 13 points with just under 11 minutes to go.

UMKC tried to respond, first with an Akeem Hemingway three, and then by a Dane Brumagin follow. The second attempt was swatted by Sasha Kaun, and the big man was fouled on the other end in return by Brumagin, sending Kaun to the line. Sherron Collins went down on the play, though, and after a couple of moments on the floor he walked off under his own strength in a ginger fashion. He sat on the bench for a moment with trainer Bill Cowgill holding his ankle, and then disappeared to the locker room.

On another note, Cole Aldrich still has yet to play on the night, though he’s seated closest to coach Self of all the players yet to remove their warmups.

Reggie Hamilton hit a long two after Kaun failed to get anything at the free throw line, but Russell Robinson came back and hit his third three of the night, giving him a team-high 15 points and putting KU up 62-48.

The back-and-forth scoring continued. First Jeremiah Hartsock scored for UMKC, but KU broke it open on the two ensuing possessions. First, after a Darrell Arthur steal, Mario Chalmers hit his fourth three of the night. That was followed by Rodrick Stewart taking a transition feed from Robinson up to the rack for a hoop with a foul, leading to a full timeout at the 7:49 mark.

11:02, second half, KU leads 58-46

Reggie Hamilton hit a step-back three out of the timeout to give himself 14 points on the night. Brent Stephens was called for an offensive foul on the other end after going over the top to try and rebound a Sherron Collins miss, and nearly drew an intentional foul after pulling down Rodrick Stewart by the pants with him. He lost the ball on the other end while driving off his foot, drawing cheers from the KU students.

After another KU miss, Dane Brumagin got himself to the line and hit one of two, pulling UMKC to within 15 points at 54-39.

Mario Chalmers and Darnell Jackson each had misses on the other end, but Rodrick Stewart scored his second bucket of the game by dropping in two on a reverse.

Darrell Arthur then created two more points for Stewart after firing a long outlet pass for him off a rebound. UMKC’s Jeremiah Hartsock responded with two on a drive while drawing contact. Hartsock missed the free throw, but James Humphrey pulled down the board and stuck the putback to keep UMKC within 15 points at 58-43.

Dane Brumagin then hit a three for UMKC to make it a 12-point game after Stewart lost a ball off his foot in traffic, forcing Bill Self into a 30-second timeout.

14:54, second half, KU leads 54-35

Sherron Collins missed a three out of the break from the corner, giving UMKC the chance to draw first half blood. Dane Brumagin missed an inside layup, but KU turned it back over and Brumagin hit a long two on the wing, gving him his first points of the game.

KU turned it over again, but UMKC couldn’t capitalize. Bill Self was forced into calling a timeout after Russell Robinson hit a three to give himself 12 points. The result was nice, but the possession he scored on was rather sloppy, with a pair of near-turnover.

Brent Stephens missed a three on the other end, and on the scramble for the board there was a huge pileup, resulting in a jump ball call, giving the possession to UMKC, but it drew praise from the KU crowd for the extended effort. Stephens then hit a two while fading away on the wing, giving himself 10 points on the night.

Sasha Kaun on the other end hit one of two free throws after getting hammered inside, making him 5-of-10 on the night from the stripe. Stephens got himself to the line on the other end after getting hit by Kaun, and he as well hit one of two.

KU came back with a bucket by Darrell Arthur, cutting across the lane, to give the sophomore big man six points. Arthur then stole a ball at midcourt and took it in on his own for a one-handed slam on the break, putting KU up by 17 and forcing UMKC into a 30-second timeout.

UMKC turned the ball over and drove coach Matt Brown nuts on the other end after the timeout, as Sherron Collins swooped in for two in transition, making him the fourth Jayhawk in double figures. Mario Chalmers then tried to one-up him after a steal with his own dunk, but it was instead KU’s second missed opencourt slam of the night, keeping KU up by 19 going into a full timeout.

Halftime, KU leads 43-30

Tyrel Reed created a steal off of UMKC’s Akeem Hemingway after Darrell Arthur was called for an offensive foul out of the timeout. Sherron Collins made Reed’s effort worthwhile by stroking a two from atop the key to give KU a 36-25 advantage.

Things got a bit heated after Russell Robinson then drew a foul on UMKC and was run into by Jeremiah Hartsock. Darnell Jackson stormed into the paint and got in Hartsock’s face with some words before being pulled off by the ref. Robinson thanked him for taking his back by hitting both free throws, putting KU up 38-25.

Reggie Hamilton answered back with a two on the other end which fell in after a high bounce off the rim. But Robinson came back down off a long feed from Sherron Collins and hit a three to give himself nine points and put KU up by 14 with less than a minute to go.

Jeremiah Hartsock hit one of two free throws on the other end after drawing contact, and Collins did the same for KU following the make, getting to the line with :7.4 to go. Collins hit both, giving him eight points in the first half. With those, KU closed the half on a 19-9 run after Reggie Hamilton dropped one in in the paint as time expired.

In the first half, Russell Robinson scored five late points and helped lead the way for KU with nine points total. Sasha Kaun had a gritty nine of his own in the paint. Mario Chalmers, thanks to a trio of three pointers, scored 11 for KU, including a key three when UMKC closed the KU lead to one point at 22-21. Reggie Hamilton led UMKC with 11 points, while Brent Stephens had eight.

3:01, first half, KU leads 34-25

Russell Robinson scored a two for KU out of the timeout to make it a six-point game, and following a missed Brent Stephens three and a UMKC turnover, the Jayhawks had a chance to separate some more.

KU slowed it down, with Robinson ultimately knifing into the lane, dishing it to Sasha Kaun who was fouled on the way up, getting to the line yet again.

Kaun made one of two, putting KU up by seven with six minutes to go in the half. The ‘Roos lost the ball when Reggie Hamilton tried to save a ball back with a desperate fling. It was gathered at midcourt by Darnell Jackson, who fed Russell Robinson underneath. Robinson was fouled by Brian Gettinger, knocking the Shawnee Mission South product out of the game with his third foul. Robinson, though, missed both charities. Rodrick Stewart made up for it with a driving two following a UMKC miss. It prompted Matt Brown to call a timeout from the bench with his team having surrendered a slow 8-0 run.

Brent Stephens missed another three after the timeout, with Rodrick Stewart soaring high for the board. Darnell Jackson was denied inside on the other end, as UMKC made its first defensive stop in a few minutes.

Stephens came back to hit a long two atop the key, ending the KU run. Sasha Kaun earned a trip to the line thanks to the double bonus after earning a foul in the paint on the other end. He hit both shots, giving him nine points and boosting KU’s lead to the same amount at 32-23.

Jeremiah Hartsock went easily down the baseline for UMKC to score his third bucket of the game, but Sherron Collins one-upped him with an acrobatic layup to give himself four points on the night.

Stephens then aired a two before the game went to its final full break of the first half.

7:38, first half, KU leads 25-21

Sasha Kaun missed both free throws following the timeout, but UMKC missed a deep three on the other end. Darrell Arthur, back in the game for Sasha Kaun, then scored for the first time from the field with a short turnaround, giving him four points and putting KU up by seven.

He then stole a pass from Brent Stephens at midcourt and soared in ahead of the defense to the rim, but his tomahawk dunk attempt boomed off the back iron. After UMKC missed a three from the corner, Darnell Jackson got himself to the line for the first time on an aggressive inside move. But like Kaun before him, he missed both attempts and couldn’t extend KU’s slim lead.

Tyrel Reed then missed a three after another failed UMKC possession, and Stephens answered with his second three of the game, forcing Bill Self to call a timeout with his team up by just four.

After the timeout, UMKC had a tough time trying to work the ball inside, and ultimately Reggie Hamilton canned a three in the corner to make it a one-point game, giving himself seven points so far.

Mario Chalmers then reappeared from three-point range, knocking in his third trifecta to awaken the crowd a bit. Jeremiah Hartsock missed a three for UMKC, but the ‘Roos scrambled to the floor for a loose ball at midcourt, forcing a jump ball and the game’s third full break.

11:19, first half, KU leads 20-15

Sasha Kaun made one of two free throws out of the timeout stemming from a whistle before the break. Darrell Arthur then added to it with an emphatic swat under the glass on the defensive end.

Sherron Collins took the ball the other way and was hacked on his way up to the iron, getting to the line for the first time. He hit both easily, making it 11-4 KU.

Brent Stephens hoisted a three for UMKC on the other end, but KU’s ensuing possession didn’t last long, as Dane Brumagin picked off a pass underneath. On the other end, James Humphrey laid in a pair off the glass, and then Darrell Arthur missed a chippy of a layup. Coming back, Stephens cashed a three to pull the ‘Roos within two at 11-9.

Mario Chalmers then hit from the field for the second time, this one coming from three to put KU up by five. Reggie Hamilton answered for the ‘Roos with his second bucket. The two teams then swapped offensive fouls – on Darrell Arthur and Dane Brumagin – giving the ball back to KU up by three.

Rodrick Stewart, in the game for Sherron Collins, slashed to the hoop and in mid-air flipped a pass out to Chalmers, who easily hit his second three of the game, giving him a game-high eight points.

Jeremiah Hartsock scored following a Stewart turnover on an attempted lob to Darnell Jackson. Jackson took a tumble to the floor on Hartsock’s bucket, but was all right, hustling on the other end for an offensive board off his own miss. He fed Sasha Kaun for two while getting fouled. Kaun hit the charity, giving him six points with just over 12 minutes to go until halftime and KU leading by seven.

Akeem Hemingway scored his first points for UMKC after taking Tyrel Reed to atop the key and stepping back for two. Sherron Collins tried to respond with a three, but missed. Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson were aggressive under the glass for the board, with Kaun drawing a foul, leading to the game’s second full break.

15:37, first half, KU leads 8-4

KU’s sherron Collins controlled the opening tip and worked the ball into the paint to Darrell Arthur, who almost immediately drew a foul and got to the line.

The Dallas sophomore calmly swished both, putting KU up 2-0 almost right away. Russell Robinson pressured the inbounds pass and forced a jump ball, but the possession stayed with UMKC.

Brian Gettinger pulled up for a jumper out high right away for the ‘Roos, but it clanked off the back iron and was corralled by Mario Chalmers going the other way. Chalmers hoisted a three from the right wing, but couldn’t hit. UMKC’s Reggie Hamilton worked his way inside to tie it up on the way back down, but Chalmers responded with a tough, hanging deuce for his first points of the game.

Dane Brumagin missed a three for UMKC, keeping the ‘Roos possessions quick, but KU gave it right back when Sherron Collins stepped out of bounds while setting up for a three.

Collins missed a three on the offensive end following a UMKC turnover and so did Russell Robinson before the ‘Roos corralled the board. Another UMKC turnover, though, kept the offense stumbling.

Robinson broke the KU scoring drought on the other end with two inside off the glass. UMKC’s Jeremiah Hartsock responded with an 18-foot jumper to keep it a two-point game.

KU went to the bigs on the other end, with Sasha Kaun working between two defenders and rising for a hanging two-handed dunk.

Pregame

Bill Self said earlier in the week at his press conference that he’d rather not do the three games in six days thing again if he has the choice. But what’s done is done, and the Jayhawks finish such a stretch tonight at 7:00 p.m. with a showdown against UMKC. It’s the first meeting between the two since a 100-46 KU win in 2003.

The Jayhawks opened the season in flying fashion with a 107-78 bashing of Louisiana-Monroe on Friday night in front of another home crowd. Sherron Collins led the way for KU with 22 points, while Darnell Jackson notched a career-high 21, but Bill Self was critical of his team’s defensive showing afterwards.

For UMKC, this is the team’s first regular season tilt. The Kangaroos played on Oct. 27 in an exhibition match, defeating Harris Stowe State 94-51. Junior guard Akeem Hemingway scored 20 points int he effort, while senior forward Brent Stephens and freshman guard Reggie Hamilton each put away 16. Under first-year coach Matt Brown, a former assistant at West Virginia under now-Michigan head coach John Beilein, runs an offense where skilled big men who can shoot excel. It’ll be a defensive test for KU and a completely different look from the guard-laden ULM team which it knocked off two days ago.

The crowd is filling in to cap off what has been a football-sparked frenzy of a weekend.