photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Flory Bidunga (40) delivers a dunk over Howard guard Marcus Dockery (5) during the first half on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Newcomers David Coit and Rylan Griffen may have earned nominal places in the starting lineup for Kansas’ season opener, but it wasn’t long before the full depth of KU’s offseason haul was revealed.

Freshmen Flory Bidunga and Rakease Passmore and transfers Zeke Mayo and AJ Storr took the floor mere minutes into Monday night’s game and each had their own opportunities to shine.

In fact, a couple of those bench players ended up being the most impressive Jayhawks of all — especially Mayo, who looked confident in his first official appearance at Allen Fieldhouse. His 19 points led the way for KU as it cruised to an v87-57 victory over Howard, its 52nd consecutive win in a home opener.

Bidunga scored 13 and pulled down eight rebounds, frequently spelling Hunter Dickinson as the preseason All-American saw his first action since returning from a foot injury. Dickinson finished with a quiet but still solid 16 points and six boards in 21 minutes.

Blake Harper paced the Bison with 16 points.

KU took its first four shots from behind the 3-point line and made just one, falling behind 4-3 before Dickinson laid the ball in for his first points of the year. That got the Jayhawks going on an 8-0 run, largely driven by pinpoint-accurate passing in transition, that forced an early timeout by Howard.

Bidunga contributed six points — including a pair of thunderous dunks — plus three rebounds and a dunk in his first-ever shift as a Jayhawk. Meanwhile, Howard missed 10 straight shots from the field, before Bryce Harris eventually banked in a contested shot in the post to cut the Bison’s deficit to 24-7.

Storr hit a 3-pointer in transition to give KU its first 20-point lead at 31-11 with six minutes to go in the half.

Mayo, who hit his first three 3-point shots, and Bidunga continued to pace the KU offense in the lead-up to halftime. Mayo added one late layup and then locked down Howard’s Joshua Strong on the final possession to give KU a 46-19 lead entering the break.

Coit, who had previously begun the game with a 3-pointer, hit another one to start the second half, then stole the ball to set up a transition layup. But KU slowed down considerably and allowed a 7-0 stretch to Howard while failing to score for more than three minutes.

The Bison hit a couple of 3s, but so did Mayo, and a dunk by Zach Clemence and pull-up jumper by KJ Adams allowed the Jayhawks to go up 72-38 by the eight-minute mark. They didn’t defend well enough in the later stages of the game to extend that margin.

The Jayhawks will host No. 9 North Carolina on Friday at 6 p.m.