First half

•  Key play: Ben McLemore finished an alley-oop at the halftime buzzer while drawing a foul. He completed the three-point play with both teams in the locker room.

•  Key stat: Elijah Johnson finished with six assists in the first half.

Second half:

•  Key play: McLemore opened the half with a three-pointer, sparking the oncoming onslaught.

Key stat: The Jayhawks had 25 assists on 33 field goals.

McLemore connects from deep

As Kansas coach Bill Self said, perhaps it was just the law of averages.

McLemore made four of five shots from behind the three-point line while busting out of a minislump from behind the arc.

McLemore, who had 17 points, had been KU’s leading scorer, averaging 16 points in the Jayhawks’ first eight games. But he’d also made just 31 percent of his three-point shots. It was a percentage, Self said, that probably didn’t jibe with his ability.

“When he can consistently stretch it,” Self said, “that’ll set up him (driving) and doing some things, and making him a much more efficient offensive player.”

On Saturday, McLemore was pretty efficient. He missed just one of his seven shots and completed an alley-oop-and-one at the halftime buzzer.

“I just give thanks to Elijah for the pass,” McLemore said. “And I just went up and just dunked it real quick and got the foul.”

For now, Self said he’s less concerned with McLemore’s offensive numbers — and more concerned with his aggressiveness on that end of the floor.

“He’s gonna shoot more than seven times probably every game for the rest of the year,” Self said. “But he was patient.”

• Kansas has now won 60 straight games against nonconference opponents at Allen Fieldhouse. The last loss came against Oral Roberts on Nov. 15, 2006.

• Jeff Withey had 14 points and five blocks, giving him 50 blocked shots in nine games.

•  The 38 three-pointers that Belmont attempted tied for the second most all time against Kansas. Kentucky attempted 40 three-pointers on Dec. 9, 1989.