Welcome to first installment of The Recap, a feature that will hopefully appear on KUSports.com the day after every Kansas basketball game.

With The Recap, we’ll try to provide any insight the KUSports.com crew couldn’t squeeze into the newspaper the previous night. Possession-based statistics will be the basis for much of the analysis that happens in The Recap, with numbers provided by the ingenious Web sites kenpom.com and Basketball State. A nice introduction and comprehensive possession-based stats primer can be found here.

That written, on to Friday night’s action.

Kansas fans could find a lot to like in their team’s opening-night performance. The Jayhawks avoided turnovers despite the presence of multiple freshmen in the rotation, pushed the pace of play and shot with efficiency. In sum, the Jayhawks outscored the Pride by more than one-half of a point per possession (.52, to be exact). In a game in which each team used about 80 possessions, that per-possession margin manifested itself on the scoreboard pretty clearly.

The only Jayhawks who had poor nights were forward Thomas Robinson (1-for-5, five points in 17 minutes) and guard Tyrel Reed (0-for-4, scoreless in 15 minutes). Even guard Tyshawn Taylor and forward Markieff Morris, who didn’t shoot much and didn’t play much, respectively, posted decent efficiency numbers.

Among Friday’s winners were guard Sherron Collins (23 points on 15 field goal attempts), guard Xavier Henry (KU freshman debut record 27 points) and Marcus Morris (committed just one foul in 22 minutes).

What KU did well

• Took care of the ball

The Jayhawks turned the ball over on 15.2 percent of their possessions (national average last season was about 20 percent). After a 2009 season in which KU’s greatest weakness was committing turnovers, its Friday-night performance looked especially good. While freshmen Robinson and Elijah Johnson combined to commit five turnovers, fellow frosh Xavier Henry played 24 minutes without coughing up possession.

• Passed to Xavier Henry

One game into his college career, Henry looks every bit the superstar he was made out to be. The physically imposing freshman wing was far and away the Jayhawks’ most efficient player against Hofstra, scoring more than a point a minute and missing just four of 18 shots, free throws included. Henry also grabbed five rebounds, a sign that KU’s rebounding from the ‘3’ position could improve with Henry playing in Brady Morningstar‘s stead.

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Xavier Henry lofts a shot from long distance

• Fired often from long range

Bill Self’s Kansas teams have usually shot well but have rarely shot often from beyond the arc. The last time a KU squad ranked in the nation’s top 200 in percentage of shots taken from long range was 2005. Last season, 30.7 percent of KU’s shots were three-point attempts, ranking the Jayhawks 230th in the nation. Friday against Hofstra, 43 percent of KU’s attempts were three-point tries. And KU converted those shots at a solid 41 percent clip. Between shooters such as Collins and Henry and double-team drawers such as Cole Aldrich and Robinson, the 2010 team could shoot quite a few threes.

What KU did poorly

• Not much

Aside from a first-half lull that allowed Hofstra to creep to within nine points, KU was on top of things from opening tip to closing horn.

• Didn’t light things up at the line

The Jayhawks made 65 percent of their free throw attempts, a mark weighed down by Robinson’s 3-for-8 showing and Aldrich’s 3-for-6 night. Aldrich, who shot 79 percent from the line last season, might have just had a bad night. But KU fans should hope Robinson just had an off night. The freshman is in line to play major minutes this season and has the offensive skills to draw fouls.

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Freshmen Thomas Robinson and Elijah Johnson engage in a learning moment with coach Bill Self

Credit KU for some (relatively) tough opening-night scheduling

Kansas and Hofstra are clearly not programs playing on the same level. But you have to give credit to the Kansas brass for putting the Pride on the schedule so early.

In the grand scheme of things, Hofstra is not a lower-tier basketball program. The Pride play in the Colonial Athletic Association (home to bracket busters George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth). Entering this season, Hofstra had won 20 games or more in four of the past five seasons. The team finished the 2006 season with the No. 30 RPI in the nation.

All it takes to see the relative strength of KU’s opening-night opponent is a glance at last night’s Big 12 Conference scoreboard (winners’ points per possession margin in parentheses):

• Texas Tech defeated South Dakota, a team playing its first NCAA Division I contest. (+.44 PPP)

• Texas A&M beat Angelo State, a Division II team. (not available)

• Baylor handled Norfolk State, a squad that hasn’t cracked the top 250 RPI since 2002. (+.34)

• Colorado allowed 72 points but defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which finished fourth in the SWAC — the nation’s worst conference — last season. (+.20)

• Iowa State outscored Idaho State, a group that has at least flirted with the RPI top 200 in recent years. (+.20)

• Kansas State demolished Loyola (Ill.), which is coming off back-to-back eighth place finishes in the Horizon League. (+.48)

None of the above games were close or even competitive. But the most lopsided victory of all belonged to Kansas, which trounced its more respectable opponent by a gaudy +.52 points per possession.

So far, so good for the Jayhawks.