Jayhawks Maul Golden Grizzlies

It was a fun night for the Jayhawks, as they opened the campus rounds of the Hoophall Miami Invitational by playing Oakland University at Allen Fieldhouse. KU picked right up where they left off following a historically good offensive showing against Texas Southern. KU once again scored early and often, running away with a - victory.

Kansas never really struggled in this one. The plan early seemed to be getting the ball to Udoka Azuibike, who had nine first half points. The shooters didn't take too long to get things going either, though KU didn't rely on the three to nearly the extent they had against TSU. Svi Mykhailiuk continued his torrid scoring pace, getting into double digits in the first half alone. Kansas went to the locker room with a very comfortable 55-26 lead, with Oakland shooting just 30% from the floor. Mitch Lightfoot, surprisingly, chipped in 11 for the Jayhawks in half number one.

Kansas somehow came out of the break even hotter, though it looked like they became understandably less interested in playing shutdown defense. It became a bit of an up-and-down the court affair, with both sides giving up some fairly uncontested buckets. In the end, there was little doubt as to the outcome.

Once again, the points were spread around the roster pretty well, with six Jayhawks in double digits. Azubuike had a team high 21 points and the game's only double double with ten boards. Graham's 14 points paired with 7 dimes. Lagerald Vick and Malik Newman had 15 apiece. Svi had 14 on a strangely quiet 1 of 3 from behind the arc.

As a team, KU shot 33 of 54 from two (61%) and 6 of 16 from three (38%), while outrebounding Oakland 49 to 34. They held the Golden Grizzlies to just 33% shooting, but likely benefited from some good fortune, as Oakland shot just 6 of 31 (19%) from beyond the arc.

Next up for Kansas is Toledo, also part of the Hoophall Miami Invitational, taking place Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.