Kansas crushes Emporia State 104-62 in final exhibition game

Kansas may or may not be ready for its regular-season opener against defending Big Ten champion Indiana on Friday in Hawaii.

But there is no question the No. 3 Jayhawks looked better equipped to play the 11th-ranked Hoosiers than they did a week ago. The Jayhawks improved on an 18-point victory over Washburn with a 104-62 clobbering of Emporia State on Sunday night in Allen Fieldhouse.

“We played better. I don’t know if we were great,” said KU coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks outrebounded the Hornets, 49-31, after being outboarded by Washburn by one.

“I saw more today to encourage me. We were better than the last game. If we were going to play a (bad) game and pretty decent one I’m glad it went in the order it did. We’re leaving (for Hawaii on Tuesday) on a better note. But I do not know where we are at.”

The Jayhawks, in their second and final exhibition, had a batch of highlight-reel plays — including several lobs for dunks to freshman Udoka Azubuike (13 points, including two off a dunk on a no-look lob from Devonté Graham) as well as driving one-handed slams by Josh Jackson (11 points, seven rebounds and five assists) and Mitch Lightfoot (12 points) in the final half.

Svi Mykhailiuk, who had a behind-the-back pass converted by Frank Mason (team-leading 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting) in the first half and also cashed back-to-back threes, finished with 16 points.

Lagerald Vick replaced Carlton Bragg in the starting lineup following Bragg’s two-rebound outing against Washburn and had seven points and four boards. Bragg had two points, four rebounds and five turnovers.

“We wanted to try something different,” Self said. “Carlton struggled. Lagerald’s been as good a performer as we’ve had. I wanted to practice playing small. He (Bragg) is just in a funk. He’ll snap out of that.”

The Jayhawks, who made 18 of 34 free throws against Washburn, hit 21 of 32 Sunday while making 61.3 percent of their shots.

Senior guard Mason and junior guard Graham (10 points, four assists and no turnovers) played well despite being “nicked up.”

“Frank jammed his thumb the other day. He got kicked in the shin today,” Self said. “Devonté’s been cramping most every day now. We have the nutritionist working with him. We’ve got to get him where he can play 30-plus minutes (he played 22).

“Josh was better tonight,” Self added. “He passed well, got in the flow offensively. Lagerald did some good things. Svi may have been as good as anybody we have in the two exhibition games. He’s been very good,” Self added.

KU, which was tied 11-11 with Emporia State after five minutes, closed the half on a 44-18 run and led big at the break, 55-29.

Mykhailiuk hit a pair of threes and had 12 points, while Graham (10 points and four assists) and Mason had 10 each off a combined 11-of-13 shooting. KU hit 61.3 percent from the field in the first half but made just 12 of 19 free throws. KU won the first-half board battle, 24-14.

Mykhailiuk scored eight points, Graham had seven and Mason scored five in a 23-2 run that busted open that 11-11 tie and made it 34-13 at 7:31. Coach Shaun Vandiver’s son, Gavin, had nine points for Emporia State in the first half and nine for the game.

KU will open the regular season against Indiana about 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Armed Forces Classic in Honolulu. The Jayhawks will practice Monday in Lawrence, then fly commercial to Honolulu out of Kansas City International Airport early Tuesday morning. The flight is so early Tuesday, the players and coaches will spend the night Monday in a Kansas City hotel.

The Jayhawks will tour the USS Arizona on Wednesday at Pearl Harbor and also hold a clinic for children. The squad will practice in Honolulu on Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for the game, which will be held at Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus.

After Friday’s game, the Jayhawks will fly commercial to New York in preparation for a Champions Classic contest against Duke at about 8:30 p.m. Nov. 15. The Jayhawks will return to Kansas City via charter on Nov. 16.

The Jayhawks are flying commercial to Honolulu and New York instead of charter because there are not many fans in the traveling party. KU officials said the cost would have been exorbitant to charter to Honolulu and New York without others on the flight helping defray the cost.

Graham on cramping

Graham, who was 2 of 4 on three-pointers Sunday, addressed the fact he’s had cases of cramping in KU’s two exhibitions.

“I don’t know, man. I just keep cramping up. I’m about to talk to the nutritionist,” he said after cramping in both halves of the Emporia State game.

He said it hasn’t been happening in practice.

“Just hydrate more. Eat bananas. I’ve got to eat more. I think that might be what it is,” he added of a solution. “I really think it’s I’m not eating enough, not getting enough whatever it is … potassium.”

Dunk you very much

Azubuike had a whopping six dunks. He had four the second half off lobs.

“All thanks to my teammates,” said the 7-foot freshman from Delta, Nigeria. “They trust me to pass the lob to me. I give them all the credit for all the lobs. Pretty much, I was just wide open. When you throw the lob anywhere, I’m going to go over there and catch it and just dunk it.

“My teammates were excited. The crowd was excited. Everybody was into it. That’s pretty much what it is,” he added. “That’s pretty much my game, catching and dunking. That’s pretty much the stuff I do best, so I just go out there and try to do it.”

Of Azubuike, who also had seven rebounds, Self said: “Udoka is one of the better lob catchers around. He is good at that. He is someone not many (teams) can match as far as big body and athleticism. If he can continue to get better, hopefully by conference season or midway through conference season he can be a good player. He is so raw. We shouldn’t be giddy about catch and lobs. When we play (Indiana and Duke) those type of plays will not be available as much. You have to earn your points.”

Brown to announce college choice Monday

Troy Brown, a 6-6 senior shooting guard from Las Vegas Centennial High, who is ranked No. 12 nationally by Rivals.com, will announce his college choice on Monday, two days before the start of the weeklong early-signing period.

He said the announcement will come at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time (2:30 p.m. Central), likely on Twitter. He has made official visits to KU, Oregon, Alabama, Ohio State and Georgetown and also has Cal, Arizona and UNLV on his list.

Brown is the brother of KU women’s basketball player Jada Brown. As of Sunday night, many analysts had Oregon as the leader for Brown.

“Tomorrow at 12:30 PT it’s going down,” Brown wrote on Twitter.

KANSAS 104

EMPORIA STATE 62 (exh.)

Emporia State: Pedersen 2-4 0-0 5, Sardin 1-3 0-1 2, Jordan 0-6 0-0 0, Hall 3-8 3-6 9, Temaat 2-6 0-0 6, Morton 0-1 4-4 4, Limuel 1-5 0-1 2, McLemore 0-0 3-4 3, Hodge 0-1 0-0 0, Fort 2-4 4-4 10, Taylor 2-8 0-0 5, Emery 2-4 1-3 5, Vandiver 3-9 0-1 9, Dale 0-1 0-0 0, Fisher 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-62 15-24 62.

Kansas: Lucas 3-4 0-1 6, Mason III 7-7 1-1 17, Vick 1-4 5-6 7, Graham 3-5 2-3 10, Jackson 4-9 2-2 11, Mykhailiuk 5-9 4-4 16, Vang 1-1 0-0 2, Bragg Jr. 1-4 0-0 2, Self 0-2 0-0 0, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Coleby 3-3 2-4 8, Azubuike 6-9 1-4 13, Lightfoot 4-4 4-7 12. Totals 38-62 21-32 104. Half: Kansas 55-29. Att: 16,300.

This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Kansas crushes Emporia State 104-62 in final exhibition game."