Lagerald Vick leads Jayhawks in 91-61 rout of Long Beach State

Kansas sophomore Lagerald Vick’s second career start proved even more productive than his first.

Vick, a 6-foot-5, 175-pound shooting guard from Memphis, who scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed nine boards Friday versus UNC Asheville, went for a career-best 23 points on 9-of-9 shooting (4 for 4 on three-pointers) in the fourth-ranked Jayhawks’ 91-61 victory over Long Beach State on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Vick, who along with Udoka Azubuike (eight points, seven boards) started for the second straight contest, nearly set a school record for shooting accuracy. The KU record for most field goals without a miss in a single game is 10 by Danny Manning in 1986 and Norm Cook in 1973. Vick had a dunk wiped off the board late in the second half because of a foul away from the ball by Carlton Bragg.

“I think Carlton must be mad at him or something. That’s probably the worst foul we’ve committed since we’ve been here or Lagerald would have gotten the record,” KU coach Bill Self said.

Bragg pulled down a 49er player who was not involved in the play at all.

“He (Vick) did have 10 field goals. Carlton (six points, six boards in 11 minutes) grabbed a guy 90 feet from the basket to eliminate a basket or he’d have tied the school record for most efficient field-goal percentage in numbers for all time. That’s a little disappointing. Not too many guys have a chance to do that,” Self stated.

“It’s not like he did it with easy shots. He had hard shots. He was 4 of 4 from three. It’s not like they were all layups.”

Vick wasn’t concerned about the fact he came close to breaking a longstanding record.

“Coach said something about it after the game. I mean, we were just trying to win the game,” Vick said. “I think I played all right. I could have rebounded more (two boards in 29 minutes) but we won the game.”

Vick, who opened the season 1 of 13 on three-pointers but was 3 of 4 versus Asheville, cashed three threes in as many tries in the initial half as KU, 6-1, rolled to a 48-25 halftime lead.

“I felt comfortable and confident,” Vick said. “The team has been hyping me up. I look forward to better games in the future. It feels good. I was not shooting well to start the season. I was fading back on my shot. One of my friends (at KU) showed me a video. Coach (Kurtis) Townsend noticed it. I stopped doing that.”

“A lot of it was shot selection,” Self said of Vick’s early shooting problems. “Getting a couple of easy baskets, those threes become easier. The basket is bigger when you make a couple of  easy baskets.”

Svi Mykhailiuk scored 14 points for KU, Josh Jackson had 13 points and five rebounds, Devonté Graham added 12 points and four assists and Frank Mason had eight points, eight assists and six rebounds.

KU senior Landen Lucas, who has been slowed by a sore foot this season, did not play because of a strained oblique (side), Self said. Self indicated Lucas “cringed” on a play at shootaround and was rested for precautionary reasons. He did not know Lucas’ status for Saturday’s game against Stanford.

Vick scored seven points to help the Jayhawks grab a 12-7 lead, adding five more in a 23-6 run that stretched a 14-13 lead to 37-19 with 5:09 left in the first half. Jackson had seven points, Graham six and Mykhailiuk five in that surge. KU ended the half on a 34-12 run, opening it up after leading by just one 5 minutes into the contest.

KU joined a list of heavyweights to pound the 49ers early this season. Long Beach State, 1-8, has lost at Wichita State (92-55), North Carolina (93-67), Louisville (88-56), UCLA (114-77) and Washington (94-88).

Former KU coach Larry Brown, who led SMU’s program the last four seasons, attended and sat a couple of rows behind the KU bench with longtime friend and business partner Doug Compton.

Brown, who went 94-39 as Mustangs coach, recently decided to not coach high school basketball in East Hampton, N.Y. — his offseason home the last several years. Brown, 76, had expressed interest in the head coaching job at East Hampton High and was offered the post, but he had already planned various trips to colleges and wasn’t sure if he’d be able to fully commit himself to the job.

KU will next meet Stanford at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Stanford is coached by former KU guard Jerod Haase, who is the 32nd leading scorer in school history with 1,264 points. He’s 11th in three-pointers made (156) and steals (174) and 18th in assists (343).

Haase, who transferred to KU from Cal after his freshman year, played for a 34-2 team his senior year in 1996-97, 29-5 in 1995-96 and 25-6 in 1994-95.

Long Beach State will conclude a nine-game road swing by playing New Mexico State on Saturday.

Bragg didn’t mean to foul

KU sophomore Bragg commented on the foul he committed far from the ball that erased Lagerald Vick’s 10th hoop of the night. A 10th hoop in as many tries would have tied a KU record for most field goals in a game without a single miss:

“I was down there … (on other end of floor). I just stood there. He (the 49er player) tumbled over my arm. It was not intentional,” Bragg said.

Bragg was asked about senior forward Landen Lucas not being able to play because of a strained oblique. “He seemed a little down. He couldn’t really jump (or) get into it in during warmups. I asked him if he was all right. He said, ‘yeah,’ but then it started to get bad (oblique) and he couldn’t play,” Bragg said.

KANSAS 91

LONG BEACH STATE 61

Percentages: FG .404, FT .556. Three-Point Goals: 5-12, .417 (Bibbins 3-6, Blackwell 1-2, Levin 1-2, Griffin 0-1, Ogalue 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 15 (Bibbins 4, Yussuf 4, L.Jackson 2, Levin 2, Blackwell, J.Jackson, Williams). Steals: 8 (Prince 2, Bibbins, J.Jackson, L.Jackson, Ogalue, Riggins, Williams). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: None.

Percentages: FG .596, FT .474. Three-Point Goals: 14-26, .538 (Vick 4-4, Mykhailiuk 4-8, Graham 2-4, J.Jackson 2-5, Self 1-1, Mason 1-3, Bragg 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 3 (Coleby, J.Jackson, Vick). Turnovers: 19 (J.Jackson 4, Graham 3, Self 3, Bragg 2, Mason 2, Vick 2, Azubuike, Lightfoot, Mykhailiuk). Steals: 10 (J.Jackson 3, Graham 2, Mykhailiuk 2, Vick 2, Lightfoot). Technical Fouls: None. Fouled Out: None.

Half: Kansas 48-25. Att: 16,300.

This story was originally published November 29, 2016 at 9:05 PM with the headline "Lagerald Vick leads Jayhawks in 91-61 rout of Long Beach State."