Brandon Rush will continue to practice this week as he makes steady progress from June 1 ACL surgery.

Kansas University coach Bill Self was asked if the junior guard/forward could play in Thursday’s 7 p.m. game against Washburn in Allen Fieldhouse.

“I wouldn’t go that far. He is practicing, though,” Self said after a long pause, adding, “I don’t think his knee would keep him from playing. I don’t know with his timing if he’s ready to play in a game. He’s doing well.”

Rush sat out Sunday’s game, of course, as did his best friend – UMKC senior Tim Blackwell, who served a suspension for violation of team rules.

¢ Bad matchup for Cole: Freshman big man Cole Aldrich had two rebounds and two turnovers while playing the final three minutes.

Self said Aldrich would have played more had UMKC used big man Alex Pledger, a 7-footer who went just four minutes.

“It was a tough matchup with their big guys out on the perimeter,” Self indicated. “UMKC is hard to guard. Their big guys can shoot. It’s the reason Cole didn’t play much. He’d go against No. 14 (Pledger), and No. 14 didn’t play much.”

¢ Collins OK: KU sophomore Sherron Collins sprained his left ankle in the second half after going down hard in the north end zone and went to the locker room for a few minutes, presumably to get re-taped.

“He’ll be fine,” Self said of the guard who returned to the court and finished the game. Overall, Collins had 10 points off 3-of-10 shooting with four assists, seven boards, three turnovers and two steals in 29 minutes.

¢ Hotly contested: Tempers came close to flaring at times. Darnell Jackson marched next to Kangaroo Jeremiah Hartsock, after Hartsock fouled Russell Robinson. Also, in the second half, KU’s Rodrick Stewart had a few words for Brent Stephens after they were tangled up.

“I was impressed with UMKC. You’d think they might be frightened coming in the fieldhouse. They played hard the whole game and didn’t back down. That was a good team we played,” Robinson said.

¢ Woes from the stripe: KU hit 16 of 31 free throws for 51.6 percent. UMKC hit seven of 11.

“It was brutal tonight,” Self said of KU’s charity work. “Last game we were 15-of-19. Tonight we couldn’t throw it in the ocean. We’ve got to do a better job of that.”

¢ Last-second score: Self was miffed at his team at halftime for allowing Reggie Hamilton to go coast-to-coast for a layup, cutting KU’s lead to 43-30 at the break.

“Anytime you let a team score before halftime, it gives them momentum,” Mario Chalmers said. “We didn’t want them to have momentum.”

¢ Stats, facts: Chalmers tied a career high with 23 points. He had 23 against Iowa State on Feb. 11, 2006. : Robinson tied a career high with nine assists. He had as many against Baylor on Feb. 21, 2006. : Collins had a career-best seven rebounds, topping his total of six against Texas last season. : Chalmers had four steals and passed Kevin Pritchard for fifth on the all-time school steals list (193). : Robinson tied career highs with three-pointers made (three) and attempted (six). : Sasha Kaun tied a career high with four blocks. : The Jayhawks went on a 19-9 run after UMKC closed to 22-21 with eight minutes left in the first half.