Wilson leads No. 5 Kansas to 82-59 rout of North Dakota St

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Basketball Writer

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Jalen Wilson had 21 points and nine rebounds, Gradey Dick added 12 points, and No. 5 Kansas tuned up for the Champions Classic next week by routing perennial Summit League contender North Dakota State 82-59 on Thursday night.

MJ Rice added 10 points in his college debut, and the Jayhawks (2-0) ramped up the defensive pressure against the Bison (0-2), building a 48-19 lead by halftime and coasting to their Division I-leading 13th consecutive victory.

They did so without coach Bill Self, who along with assistant Kurtis Townsend served the second game of school-imposed four-game suspensions. The penalty, part of the fallout of an FBI investigation into college basketball, also will keep Self from the bench for the Jayhawks’ showdown against No. 5 Duke on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

Grant Nelson had 11 points and Boden Skunberg scored 10 for the Bison (0-2).

North Dakota State gave the Jayhawks all they could handle when they met in December 2020 in Allen Fieldhouse, leading for more than 28 minutes only for the Jayhawks to score the final seven points and eke out a four-point win.

It wasn’t nearly as close Thursday night.

Wilson got off to a hot start, scoring 17 points in the first half, and Rice provided some additional energy with a high-flying dunk after missing the Jayhawks’ opening win over Omaha with a back injury earlier in the week.

But it wasn’t until Wilson’s bucket with about 12 minutes to go that the game got out of hand.

Kansas proceeded to score 10 straight points, highlighted by Rice’s ally-oop dunk, and the run stretched to 13-2 on a 3-pointer by Joseph Yesufu. And when the Bison finally got a bucket, Yesufu answered with another 3, triggering another 11-0 run that gave the Jayhawks a 40-16 lead by the under-4 minute media timeout.

The Jayhawks shot 56% from the field in the half, helped along by four ally-oop dunks, while the Bison resorted to shooting desperation 3-pointers late in the shot clock. Twenty of their 28 shots in the first half came from beyond the arc.

The Bison never threatened Kansas in the second half.

THE TAKEAWAY

The Jayhawks were brutally efficient on offense, but they really shined on defense. Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar Jr. has lived up to his billing as a perimeter stopper, and KJ Adams Jr. and Ernest Udeh Jr. dominated the paint. On nights when shots aren’t falling, the Jayhawks will be able to lean on their defense to keep them in games.

UP NEXT

While the Jayhawks head to Indianapolis to face the Blue Devils in one of the marquee nonconference games of the season, the Bison travel back to Fargo for their home opener against Pacific on Sunday.

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