Lawrence, KS – Thomas Robinson netted 20 points and pulled down 17 rebounds as No. 8 Kansas thumped Oklahoma, 84-62, at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday.
Tyshawn Taylor finished with 21 points, while Jeff Withey put home 15 points for the Jayhawks (18-4, 8-1 Big 12), who bounced back from a tough 72-64 loss to Iowa State on Saturday. Travis Releford contributed 12 points and six rebounds in the victory.
“We played really well in the second half,”Kansashead coach Bill Self said. “In the second half we were active and got after it and really did a good job out in transition. We got the ball to the rack and guys finished really well.”
Romero Osby paced the Sooners (13-8, 3-6) with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Steven Pledger had 17 points. Andrew Fitzgerald donated 14 points in the loss forOklahoma, which failed to carry over momentum from a 63-60 win overKansasStateon Saturday.
Kansasjumped out to a quick 11-4 lead, capped by aTaylorslam with just over three minutes gone in the opening half.
A jumper by Fitzgerald snapped the run andOklahomascored five of the next seven points to climb within 13-11 with 12:46 to play in the first half.
Kansasresponded with the next five points to take an 18-11 lead, but a slam by Cameron Clark with 8:30 left in the half pulled the Sooners within five.
A trey by Elijah Johnson sparked a 10-4 burst to give the Jayhawks a 30-19 advantage with 5:37 left.
The Sooners closed the first half with a 12-4 run to get within three at the break, 34-31.
Kansasbroke the game open in the second half, opening the second stanza with a 14-4 burst, capped by a Robinson dunk to give the Jayhawks a comfortable 48-35 lead.
Kansascontinued to score and a trey byTaylorput the Jayhawks up 20 with 11:48 to play and they cruised to the easy win.
The Jayhawks shot an incredible 71 percent from the floor in the second half, while holdingOklahomato 40 percent en route to outscoring the Sooners, 50-31, in the half.
“I thought we battled pretty well for a half and then opened the second half not like we needed to,” Oklahoma head coach Lon Kruger said. ” I thought offensively we were very careless with the ball and we did not get what we wanted, which translated into transition points for (Kansas), going the other way. They are a terrific ball club and Bill does a great job, but we just can’t give them that opportunity to get up and get going like we did.”
– Sports Network –