Finally, a comfortable win
Recently, very little has come easily for Kansas, even in their wins. That changed Sunday as they blew out the visiting Brown Bears, 87-53.
Though Kansas got out to an early lead, Brown hung around for most of the 1st half. The Bears shot well from three to start the game, and some slip-ups for Kansas allowed them to keep it interesting. However, Brown started to go cold from three as halftime drew near, and Kansas pushed the lead up to 11 at the break, 42-31.
In the second half, Brown went from cold to freezing on their three point shooting, and Kansas used pace and physical advantages to pull away. Zeke Mayo, who finished with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, was able to score from all three levels while Hunter Dickinson contributed even without shooting, keeping the ball moving to the right places offensively while racking up rebounds and blocks on the defensive end, finishing with 15 points, 13 boards, and 3 blocks with 3 assists.
The second half was simply a case of the superior team imposing their will on a team trying desperately to shoot their way back into the game. Kansas would end up outscoring Brown 45-22 on their way to a 34 point win, with two of those points coming on a huge highlight reel dunk where Shakeel Moore threw it off the backboard for Flory Bidunga to take flight and throw it down to finish the alley oop.
The Jayhawks have yet another long break coming up, with their next contest taking place on New Year’s Eve, when they’ll start Big 12 play by hosting West Virginia.