Kansas Mauls Siena

The 86-65 final score score isn’t entirely indicative of how this game went. It was tied at 12 at the first media timeout, and Kansas didn’t appear to be putting forth much effort defensively. They were able to develop an arm’s length lead after that, but never really blew things open until late in the game. In fact, Siena was able to pull to within just five with about 7:30 remaining. But just as it started to look like the game may be too close for comfort down the stretch, Kansas took over. Siena was forced into a zone defense by foul trouble, and the Jayhawks used their quickness and some good ball movement to shred it. In just three minutes, it would turn into a 16 point Jayhawk advantage.

KU pushed it to a 21 point lead at about the 2:30 mark, and reserves started to trickle in for Kansas (including Dwight Coleby’s debut as a Jayhawk and a nice stepback jumper by Tyler Self). Siena had run out of gas at that point, and the game was in the bag.

Some storylines that will be familiar for those who watched KU’s first two games are Josh Jackson dealing with foul trouble, some defensive rebounding woes early on, poor free throw shooting (17/26 after some makes down the stretch), and trouble with the outside shot (3/12 on the night). On the positive side, Carlton Bragg notched his first career double-double with 15 points and 11 boards, while Graham came close to having one of his own with 13 points and 9 assists. Frank Mason’s scoring average came down tonight with “only” a team-high 18 points, and LaGerald Vick really made himself a factor with 12 points and 8 boards off the bench.

Kansas plays again Monday against UAB at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.