photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard S'Mya Nichols fires a 3-pointer against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.

Kansas bounced back from a nonconference loss to Texas A&M over the weekend with a healthy 79-57 win Wednesday night over Houston Christian.

Kansas (4-4) spread its offense as the starting lineup was missing all-conference center Taiyanna Jackson, who was out with an illness. Playing without Jackson allowed for KU to feature star freshman S’Mya Nichols, who scored a career-high 20 points in 24 minutes.

“S’Mya has been, for the most part after eight games, fairly consistent. She’s playing probably to the very least level that we were expecting,” said head coach Brandon Schneider. “I think as a coaching staff, we’ve got to do what we can to get those four returning starters to elevate their play, and play like we know they’re capable of.”

The Jayhawks struggled out of the gate with their defensive presence, clearly missing Jackson on that side of the ball. Kansas allowed the relatively low-scoring Houston Christian (4-6) to put up 23 points in the first quarter. Meanwhile, on the offensive side, without its highest-scoring player this season, Kansas had to adjust. Wyvette Mayberry and Ryan Cobbins led the team with four points apiece after the first quarter.

“The biggest thing in particular in the first quarter was just not having (Jackson’s) presence in the paint,” Schneider said.”We weren’t near as disruptive as what we needed to be defensively. “Our guys obviously rely on her, because she’s an important part of our team.”

Stepping up, the Jayhawks improved their defense following their first-quarter huddle. They held the Huskies to six points through the first six minutes of the second quarter, while Kansas took a 36-29 lead thanks to some hot shooting by Nichols and Holly Kersgieter, who both scored seven points in the quarter. After forcing five missed shots in a row, the Jayhawks let up an easy bucket right before the first-half buzzer to lead 44-33 at halftime.

In the second period overall, though, they held the Huskies to 29.4% shooting and 0-for-4 from deep, after Houston Christian shot 50% from beyond the arc in the first quarter.

Nichols and Kersgieter led Kansas with 11 and nine points, respectively. Kersgieter also tallied three blocks in the first half with Jackson’s absence.

“We talked at halftime about trying to emulate the second quarter. We gave up a quirky offensive rebound on the last possession … and a late-clock bank shot,” Schneider said. “So we just really wanted to try to replicate the energy and be more disruptive. I thought they were entirely too comfortable in the first quarter.”

After three possessions with nothing to show and back-to-back buckets by the Huskies to open the second half, Kansas rebounded to go on a 13-0 run to grab its biggest lead of the night at 57-37, forcing two Houston Christian timeouts. During this run came two fast-break layups off turnovers forced by Kersgieter and Skyler Gill.

“We just took advantage of it and ran, and I think it was an emphasis because we didn’t really get out a lot the past few games,” said Kersgieter of the Jayhawks’ improved performance in transition.

Kansas stretched its run to 19 straight points. During the run, six different players scored, the Jayhawks forced four turnovers, and nearly eight minutes passed. At the end of the quarter, they led 64-41.

The fourth quarter featured some experimental rotations by Schneider, as he rotated pairs of starters off and on and experimented with Zsófia Telegdy, Danai Papadopoulou, and Paris Gaines at the post position. Freshman McKenzie Smith scored five points in the second half, after previously playing only 19 minutes and scoring three points across a trio of games early in the season.

This array of contributions was more than enough for Kansas, as it won its third straight home game 79-57 over the visiting Huskies.

“We already knew pregame that we didn’t have Taiyanna, but I think the second-half adjustment was just reiterating it because obviously, we didn’t perform to the level that we expected ourselves to,” said Kersgieter. “Going into halftime, we weren’t happy, so we weren’t going to let them do the same thing they did in that first half. So we just changed our mindset and moved on, started over in the second half.”

After starting slow but bouncing back and fending for themselves with a small lineup, the Jayhawks proved their resiliency and wide-ranging offense in a different way than they had earlier this season, with Jackson sitting out the entire contest, rather than just a quarter or two due to foul trouble as she had in previous games.

After the game, Schneider revealed that Jackson’s absence was due to illness, and he didn’t expect it to be a long-term issue. He said she could return to practice as early as Thursday.

Next, Kansas will look to win its first true away game of the season in an afternoon contest Sunday against Wichita State.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Wyvette Mayberry reaches in for a steal against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Zakiyah Franklin just misses a steal Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Holly Kersgieter makes a 3-pointer Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas forward Zsófia Telegdy reaches out for a loose ball Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas center Danai Papadopoulou reaches out to knock the ball loose Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas center Danai Papadopoulou goes up for a layup Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Skyler Gill reaches in to knock the ball away against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas center Danai Papadopoulou celebrates a play by a teammate Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Skyler Gill is fouled while going up for a layup Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider applauds a play during the game against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard S’Mya Nichols goes up for a layup Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider instructs his players against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

The Kansas bench celebrates after a basket Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Wyvette Mayberry makes an off-balance layup against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard S’Mya Nichols drives to the basket against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Holly Kersgieter goes up for a layup Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Zakiyah Franklin drives to the basket Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guard Wyvette Mayberry calls out a play Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, against Houston Christian in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas guards Ryan Cobbins and Skyler Gill high-five after a basket against Houston Christian Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lawrence.