LAWRENCE, Kan. _ No. 3-ranked Kansas opened the season 18-3 with Udoka Azubuike in the starting lineup.
The Jayhawks are 1-0 with the 7-foot senior from Nigeria coming off the bench.
Azubuike, who according to ESPN's announcing crew got into a "dust up" with coach Bill Self at the end of Saturday's victory over Texas Tech _ a game in which the big man had just five points and eight boards _ gave way to David McCormack in the starting lineup for Monday's 69-58 victory over Texas, despite apparently being healthy and ready to go.
Azubuike, who sat the first 3 minutes, 56 seconds, scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds with two blocks while playing 25 minutes vs. the Longhorns.
Sophomore forward McCormack had six points and three boards and one block in 15 minutes.
Azubuike did start the second half and came up big by scoring six points in an 8-0 run that gave KU a 52-42 lead at 8:31. That run, by the way extended to 19-4, blowing open a close game.
The Jayhawks (19-3, 8-1 Big 12) who received 16 points from Devon Dotson and 11 from Marcus Garrett, upended Texas for the second time in 16 days. The victory over UT (14-8, 4-5) left Self just one win away from an impressive coaching milestone.
Self has 699 coaching wins against 214 losses in a 27-year Hall of Fame coaching career. A win over TCU on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas would make Self the second-youngest coach in NCAA Division I to reach 700 wins. Bob Knight was 56 years, 4 months old when he claimed win 700. Self is 57 years, 1 month old.
Ochai Agbaji added eight points and six rebounds for the Jayhawks, who improved to 30-0 during ESPN Big Monday games contested in Allen Fieldhouse in the Self era. Overall, KU has won 16 straight Big Monday games.
Texas was led by Matt Coleman and Jericho Sims, who had 20 and 17 points respectively. Sims had nine boards.
KU, which was down 33-31 at halftime, took a six-point lead six minutes into the second half. Agbaji and Dotson each hit mid-range jumpers and it was 42-36 KU at 14:03.
Texas immediately responded with buckets from Coleman and Sims that made it 44-42 at 10:52.
Azubuike then slammed in a lob and had a strong move down low for a bucket, followed by an Isaiah Moss layup. KU led, 50-42, at 9:16.
After a UT timeout, Azubuike slammed again off a pass from Garrett and it was 52-42 at 8:16.
