KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ It took UAB's basketball team a good, long while to score a single point against No. 5-ranked Kansas on Monday night in Sprint Center.
The Jayhawks, who in the words of coach Bill Self, looked like a "tired team" in Friday's 21-point home victory over Siena, three nights later appeared energized in racing to a 17-0 lead in the first six minutes. They upped the margin to 22 points (25-3) en route to an 83-63 victory over the Blazers in the semifinals of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
The victory, which wasn't quite as easy as the early blitz would indicate _ UAB cut the deficit to five late in the first half _ pushed the Jayhawks (3-1) into Tuesday's final against Georgia (3-1), an 81-73 winner over George Washington in Monday's other semifinal. The final will start approximately 9 p.m., in the Sprint Center, 30 minutes after a 6:30 p.m., game between UAB and GWU.
Devonte Graham had nine points, Frank Mason seven and Josh Jackson six in helping KU blaze to its early 25-3 lead. They finished with 16, 20 and 22 points, respectively. Svi Mykhailiuk (four 3s) had 15 on a night KU hit 50.8 percent of its shots and 12 of 27 3s.
Jackson, whose 22-point total marked a career high, had perhaps the play of the game _ a phenomenal one-handed dunk with 4:14 remaining. He also slammed for the first points of the game.
Graham scored 12 points the first half, Mason 10 and Jackson 11, yet the Jayhawks only held a 39-30 lead at the break. UAB closed the half on a 27-14 run.
UAB of Conference USA missed its first 12 shots, but did recover to slice the deficit to five at 33-28 with 1:35 left in the half.
KU started the second half Monday almost as torrid at the first, going on a 9-0 run to build an 18-point lead (48-30) at 15:58. Mason had four in that early surge. However, the Blazers, who missed their first four shots of the second half, were able to slice the deficit to 10 (48-38) at 12:40.
KU led by 17 (56-39) with 11:20 left, UAB again cutting the gap to a workable 10 (60-50) at 8:01. KU built it back to 73-54 at 4:20.
Jackson, who also had seven rebounds, earlier Monday was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week in a vote by a media panel that covers the league.
Jackson averaged 13.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in KU victories over Duke and Siena. The Detroit native hit 12 of 15 shots. He scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half of the Jayhawks' 77-75 win over then-No. 1 Duke (now No. 6), Nov. 15, in the Champions Classic in New York. In Friday's 86-65 victory against Siena, he scored 11 points off 5-of-6 shooting with three assists and two blocked shots.
KU on Monday night played its second of four games in an eight-day stretch and also began a stretch of seven games in 20 days.
The Jayhawks, who beat Siena on Friday, play Tuesday night, then against UNC Asheville at 7 p.m. Friday, in Allen Fieldhouse. KU will play home games against Long Beach State (Nov. 29), Stanford (Dec. 3), UMKC (Dec. 6) and Nebraska (Dec. 10). KU then gets a break during finals week, taking several days off before tangling with Davidson on Dec. 17 in Sprint Center.
The Jayhawks are competing in their third CBE Hall of Fame Classic overall and first since winning the 2012 event. KU tripped Saint Louis, 73-59, in the finals. The Jayhawks lost to Syracuse, 89-81, in overtime in the title game in 2008, also in Sprint Center.
The Jayhawks are slated to return to the CBE Hall of Fame Classic in 2020. Missouri will compete in the event in 2019.
Some tidbits regarding Monday's KU-UAB game: The Blazers entered the action with an 11-10 mark against Big 12 teams, with the most recent game a victory over Iowa State in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. UAB was a 15-seed and Iowa State a 3. Blazers coach Robert Ehsan at 34 is the 10th youngest coach in NCAA Division I basketball.
