Fresh off its first win ever in the NCAA tournament on Wednesday in the First Four, the UC Davis Aggies held tough with the Kansas Jayhawks early in their matchup Friday night, tying the game at 21 with 7:48 on the clock in the first half.
Then the flood gates opened.
A 29-7 run to close the first half was more than enough for Bill Self’s Jayhawks on their way to a 100-62 drubbing of the Aggies in the Round of 64.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, specifically the BOK Center, was the epicenter for the Kansas offensive onslaught. After not playing in over a week, the Jayhawks looked a little rusty to start things off. However, the huge run to close the half exhibited Kansas’ clear advantage over UC Davis in every facet of the game.
The exclamation point on the massive win by the Jayhawks was their final offensive play: a three-point bucket by senior guard and fan favorite Tyler Self to break the 100-point mark.
Per usual, senior guard Frank Mason III led the way for the Jayhawks. His 22 points and 8 assists were game highs. Meanwhile, fresh off a one-game suspension, freshman guard Josh Jackson was back to his old self, finishing with 17 points and 7 rebounds.
It was a historic night for Mason; he moved into seventh all time on the Kansas career scoring list; he trails Darnell Valentine by three points for sixth place.
All five starters scored in double digits for Kansas on Friday. Along with Mason’s 22 and Jackson’s 17, junior guards Devonte’ Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk scored 16 points each, while senior center Landen Lucas racked up a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
UC Davis struggled from the floor against a tenacious effort by the Kansas defense. The Aggies shot under 34 percent for the game, and just 20 percent from downtown. One of the most turnover-prone teams in the country, UC Davis had just a 7:14 assist-to-turnover ratio against Kansas on Friday.
After an easy victory for Kansas over UC Davis, they will face the winner of Michigan State and Miami this Sunday night. You can catch that game, and every Jayhawks game of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, on KJHK 90.7 FM in Lawrence and across northeastern Kansas.
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