In the second semifinal of the Hall Of Fame CBE Classic, played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO, the Kansas Jayhawks came out firing on all cylinders.
Kansas held UAB without a field goal for nearly nine minutes to start the game, and led 20-1 at one point in the early going. UAB would respond however, going on a 17-2 run of their own to claw back into the game.
Devonte’ Graham thought he had put the Jayhawks up double digits at the half, as he drained a three pointer with less than 5 seconds to play, but the Blazers’ Deion Lavender raced down the floor to nail a jumper as time expired to cut the lead to 39-30 at the intermission.
We saw a similar start to the second half as we did to begin the ball game. Kansas opened the half with a 9-0 run to take a commanding 48-30 lead with 15:49 to play.
UAB made some plays and hung around for awhile, even cutting it to 60-50 at one point. However, the Jayhawks just proved to be too much for Blazers from Conference USA, eventually snatching victory by a final score of 83-63. Dirk Williams helped UAB stay within striking distance at times, as he had a team high 13 points.
The Jayhawks were led by excellent play from their backcourt. Freshman Josh Jackson had a team high 22 points on 8-15 shooting, Frank Mason finished with 20 points on 8-13 shooting, and Devonte’ Graham chipped in with 16 points on a 6-12 night from the field.
As a team, Kansas shot 51% from the field, and made a season high 12 three pointers. UAB shot 36% from the field and were held to 5-17 from the three point line.
NEXT UP: Kansas will face the Georgia Bulldogs on Tuesday night in the championship game of the Hall of Fame CBE Classic at 9 PM CT.
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