LAWRENCE, Kan. _ Monmouth, the tiny New Jersey school that led Kansas State by nine points at halftime Wednesday before ultimately losing by 19, wasn't near as competitive against No. 5-ranked Kansas on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks, who rolled to early leads of 19-2, 26-4 and 45-19, thanks in part to the three-point marksmanship of Isaiah Moss, cruised to a 112-57 victory.
KU, which led by 38 points at halftime (59-21) _ quite striking in comparison to Wednesday's game in Manhattan _ was sparked early by graduate transfer Moss, who hit 4 of 5 threes the first half and scored a team-leading 14 points. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Moss finished with 21 points on 5-for-6 three-point shooting. He was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line; KU as a team 24 of 31.
Kansas sophomore point guard Devon Dotson scored 17 points and dished four assists. He was 2 of 6 from three on a night KU made 14 of 30 three-pointers and hit 56.1% overall to Monmouth's 30 percent.
Kansas senior center Udoka Azubuike scored 12 points with eight rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore forward David McCormack contributed 17 points, 11 boards and one crowd-pleasing block, while freshman guard Christian Braun added 11 points (3 of 3 from three) as KU improved to 2-1 on the season. Monmouth, which was led by Deion Hammond (17 points), fell to 1-3.
KU junior forward Silvio De Sousa, who had two points and two boards at halftime, finished with 11 points and six boards. He hit the first three of his college career on his first attempt during the second half.
Jayhawks freshman Tristan Enaruna, who finished with 11 points, put down a high-flying, one-handed jam with 12 minutes, 30 seconds left in the game, giving KU an 83-29 lead.
Also, walk-on Chris Teahan hit a three-pointer to put KU over the century mark, 101-45, at 4:43.
In an interesting end to the game, Monmouth's George Papas stole the ball from Enaruna, who was dribbling out the clock and went all the way for a dunk. Papas barked at Enaruna, and was given a technical and KU hit two free throws to end the contest.
Monmouth missed its first 10 shots and committed six turnovers in falling behind 21-2 at the 11:32 mark. At that point, Dotson and Azubuike had seven points apiece. Monmouth was 0 for 11 shooting at 11:00, KU up 26-4.
After missing another shot to go 0 for 12, Monmouth converted its first bucket at 10:31 on an inside shot by Mustapha Traore. At that point, KU led 26-6.
KU used a 15-0 run to stretch a 42-19 lead to 57-19 with a minute to go before halftime. In that run, Moss had five points and Braun five of his 11 points.
It was easy to see why KU led by so many points at half.
Moss had 14 points, Dotson 13 with three steals and four assists, Azubuike nine points with four rebounds and two blocks, Braun eight points, Enaruna five points and McCormack four points, three rebounds and a vicious block in the half.
KU hit 62.5% of its first-half shots, including going 8 of 14 from three and 11 of 13 from the line. Monmouth was a chilly 23.1% shooting the first half.
