LAS VEGAS _ Seated at the end of the visitor's bench wearing black Kansas Jayhawk warmups and blue shoes _ as well as a black soft cast on his left hand _ freshman center Udoka Azubuike watched attentively as his teammates claimed a 71-53 victory over UNLV on Thursday night at Thomas & Mack Center.
The 11-1 Jayhawks won their first game without the 7-foot, 260-pounder, whose season is over because of a wrist injury incurred at practice on Tuesday.
Kansas, ranked No. 3, didn't seem to miss its starting center against the 7-6 Runnin' Rebels _ at least in the first half _ thanks in large part to another freshman _ fellow McDonald's All-American Josh Jackson.
Jackson, a 6-foot-8 guard from Detroit, scored 21 points (off 9-of-16 shooting) with nine rebounds. He had 14 of KU's first 30 points as the Jayhawks rolled to a 30-12 lead and increased the margin to 42-20 at halftime. Jackson hit 6 of 7 shots in the first half, including one three and a pair of spectacular dunks.
One dunk came off a drive down the baseline and another was a two-handed flush off an inside feed from Landen Lucas. He also rammed home a one-handed dunk off a lob pass from Frank Mason to open the final half.
Svi Mykhailiuk scored 20 points off 8-of-14 shooting (four 3s), Mason added 13 points and Lucas had a season-high 12 rebounds. Kansas had another tough night at the foul line, going 8-of-17, while hitting 44.4 percent overall and 7-of-20 from 3.
Mykhailiuk scored 10 points off 4-of-7 shooting, while Mason had seven points and Devonte Graham four in the first half. Graham scored KU's first four points of the game.
Jackson scored 10 quick points, helping Kansas grab a 25-9 lead at 9:31. He was 4-of-5 at that point with five rebounds. Kansas hit 16 of 32 shots in the first half and was 5-of-13 on 3-pointers. UNLV missed 11 of 12 3-point tries the first half and hit 29.2 percent of its shots.
UNLV did cut KU's 24-point lead (44-20) to 13 points (51-38) six minutes into the final half and had the margin down to 12 (64-52) at 3:49.
In that final half, a big play for KU was a Lagerald Vick block of a breakaway layup try by Tyrell Green.
This game completed a home-and-home series with UNLV of the Mountain West Conference. The Jayhawks won, 76-61, on Jan. 4, 2015, in Allen Fieldhouse. Mason had 18 points, seven assists and four steals in that game.
The Jayhawks, in fact, improved their all-time record against UNLV to 6-0. KU won the first game in the series, 91-77, on Nov. 22, 1989, in the Preseason NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden in New York. KU defeated UNLV, 92-68, in a second-round Preseason NIT game on Nov. 21, 1997, in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas beat UNLV, 78-50, in the Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 27, 1998, in Springfield, Mass. Also, the Jayhawks defeated the Rebels, 75-56, in a second-round 2008 NCAA Tournament game in Omaha, Neb.
Kansas will next meet TCU at 8 p.m., Dec. 30, in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be the first of 18 Big 12 games played by the Jayhawks, who will be trying for their 13th straight league title.
