Big 12 Men's Roundup: Kansas beats hapless Buffs

Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers scored 21 points apiece and No. 8 Kansas rolled past Colorado 97-74 Saturday, the Jayhawks' 35th victory in their last 36 games against the Buffaloes.

Colorado (5-12, 1-6 Big 12) closed within nine points in the second half behind Richard Roby, who broke out of a four-game slump with 30 points.

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AP Photo Kansas center Sasha Kaun slam dunks against Colorado during the Jayhawks' 97-74 victory on Saturday.

But then Chalmers hit two free throws and Rush made his third 3-pointer to trigger a 20-5 run by the Jayhawks (18-3, 5-1), who have beaten Colorado 24 times in a row at Allen Fieldhouse in the most lopsided rivalry in the Big 12.

Colorado, which had never before lost six of its first seven Big 12 games, fell to 7-57 in Lawrence. In keeping with his school's string of futility against Kansas, outgoing Colorado coach Ricardo Patton dropped to 0-12 in Allen Fieldhouse.

The Buffaloes committed 30 turnovers, one short of their record for a Big 12 game.

Russell Robinson had 12 points and Sherron Collins 11 for the Jayhawks, who have forced at least 20 turnovers seven times this season and held opponents to under 50 percent shooting in 27 straight games.

Jermyl Jackson-Wilson had 11 points for Colorado. He combined with Roby to spark a short-lived rally that sliced Kansas' lead to 63-54 with 11:51 left.

No. 13 Oklahoma State 62, Iowa State 50: STILLWATER, Okla. - Terrell Harris matched his career high with 21 points and No. 13 Oklahoma State overcame a woeful first half to beat Iowa State 62-50 on Saturday night, the six-year anniversary of the plane crash that killed 10 men connected to the school's basketball program.

For the first time since the crash, Oklahoma State (18-3, 4-2 Big 12) played on Jan. 27. The Cowboys extended their winning streak at Gallagher-Iba Arena to 16 games and snapped a three-game home losing streak to teams from the conference's North Division.

Iowa State (11-9, 2-4) has lost four straight. The Cyclones have beaten Oklahoma State only once in the last nine meetings.

Texas 84, Baylor 79: AUSTIN - Kevin Durant had a quiet first half against Baylor. He had eight points, airballed a 3-pointer and wasn't much of a factor as the Bears took a surprising lead into halftime.

It wasn't long before the Big 12's most dangerous scorer finally found his golden touch.

On his first shot after halftime, Durant powered to the basket for a layup, drew a foul and punched the air with a yell. It would still take a while for Texas to grab the lead, but Durant and the Longhorns had finally woken up.

Durant scored 26 points in the second half to finish with 34 and Texas rallied to beat the pesky Bears 82-79.

"We just told ourselves we needed to play harder than we did in the first half," Durant said. "I'm glad we did. I'm glad we got the win."

A.J. Abrams hit six 3-pointers, adding 22 points for the Longhorns (15-5, 5-1 Big 12), who won their 22nd game in a row at home and 18th straight over Baylor (11-9, 1-6).

Missouri 71, Texas Tech 58: COLUMBIA, Mo. - Stefhon Hannah led a balanced attack with 15 points and four assists and Missouri's all-court pressure knocked Texas Tech out of its rhythm in a 71-58 victory on Saturday.

Marshall Brown and Leo Lyons each had 11 points for Missouri (13-6, 2-4 Big 12), which won its second straight conference game after an 0-4 start under first-year coach Mike Anderson. Anderson won his first matchup against Bobby Knight in a game that drew 15,061, Missouri's first sellout of the season.

Missouri beat Texas Tech for the first time in four meetings while topping its season victory total from last season's 12-16 finish.

Martin Zeno had 14 points and Jarrius Jackson 12 for Texas Tech (15-6, 4-2), which failed to build on momentum created by victories over No. 8 Kansas and No. 6 Texas A&M in its previous two games - both at home. The Red Raiders committed 15 turnovers and got outrebounded 34-29 while falling to 1-2 on the road in conference play.

Texas Tech missed its first 10 shots of the second half and also had five turnovers while Missouri ran off 10 straight points for a 51-35 lead with 13 minutes to go. The Red Raiders were scoreless in the half until Decensae White connected from inside with 10:23 left.

Kansas St. 61, Nebraska 45: MANHATTAN, Kan. - Clent Stewart scored 14 points, and Kansas State earned its first four-game conference winning streak in 17 years by beating Nebraska 61-45 on Saturday night.

David Hoskins added 11 points and Cartier Martin had 10 for Kansas State, which won despite making only five second-half field goals.

It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Wildcats (15-6, 4-2 Big 12), who were coming off Monday's 73-36 nonconference rout of Chicago State.

The 1989-90 team won five straight Big Eight games. The Big 12 began play in the 1996-97 season.

Nebraska (12-7, 1-4) trailed by seven at the break but got six quick points from center Aleks Maric early in the second half and closed within 29-28 on Charles Richardson Jr.'s basket with 16:18 left.

The Cornhuskers missed a chance to take the lead, though, when Sek Henry missed two free throws with just over 14 1/2 minutes remaining.

Blake Young's 3-pointer with 13:12 left started an 11-4 run that put the Wildcats up 40-32, and Nebraska never got closer than five points again.

Kansas State took its first double-digit lead, 48-37, on Martin's two free throws with just under 2 1/2 minutes to go. The Wildcats scored 15 points - all from the line - in the final 1:23.

Henry wasn't the only Nebraska player with problems from the line, where the Cornhuskers hit only 5 of 12 attempts. Kansas State was 26-for-32, offsetting its 33 percent (14-for-43) performance from the field.