Kansas slogs its way to victory in home opener
No. 2 Jayhawks thwart Vermont; Duke new No. 1
Lagerald Vick was 8 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc and scored a careerhigh 32 points, Udoka Azubuike added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and secondranked Kansas slogged its way to an 84-68 victory over Vermont on Monday night.
The Jayhawks (2-0) were jumped by Duke for the top spot in the AP poll earlier in the day, even though they beat then-No. 10 Michigan State in the Champions Classic last week. And for most of their game against the Catamounts (1-1), they did little to prove the voters wrong.
Kansas led just 40-36 at halftime before two big runs allowed coach Bill Self to breathe easy. Anthony Lamb had 24 points, Ernie Duncan added 17 and Stef Smith scored 13 for the Catamounts, who have lost nine straight to ranked teams dating to a win over Boston College in 2006.
The Catamounts looked as if that streak might end when they went on an early 18-4 run, hitting a series of quick 3-pointers while double-teaming Azubuike on defense whenever he got the ball.
The Jayhawks' 7-footer still muscled his way to 12 first-half points.
But while the Catamounts sent waves of bodies at Azubuike inside, and made fellow Kansas forward Dedric Lawson a nonfactor, they didn't account for Vick on the perimeter.
After struggling mightily in the Jayhawks' seasonopening win over the Spartans, Vick poured in four first-half 3s and piled up 16 points. Most of them came while the Jayhawks struggled to run offense through their two freshman guards, Devon Dotson and Quentin Grimes.
Eventually, the Jayhawks' depth and talent wore down Vermont.
It was 44-40 before Azubuike added another of his rim-rattling dunks and then scored on a putback. Vick followed a jumper with his sixth 3-pointer and added his seventh a couple of minutes later as the Jayhawks' lead swelled to 6145 midway through the second half. Vermont went on one last run to get its deficit under 10, but Azubuike added two more baskets and Vick curled in his eighth 3pointer. That matched Mario Chalmers for the most in the Self era at Kansas and left Vick trailing only Terry Brown, who hit 11 in a game in 1991.
Vick finished 12 of 14 from the field in helping Kansas win its 46th straight home opener.
(7) North Carolina, 90, Stanford 72: In Chapel Hill, N.C., Kenny Williams scored 12 points after starting the season by missing his first 10 shots, and the Tar Heels (3-0) dominated the first half to beat Stanford in its home opener. Cameron Johnson had 17 points to lead four players in double figures for North Carolina.
(25) Buffalo 62, Southern Illinois 53: In Carbondale, Ill., Montell McRae and Jeremy Harris scored 11 points apiece as the Bulls (3-0) pulled away in the second half.
Big 12
Iowa State 85, Texas Southern 73: In Ames, Iowa, Marial Shayok scored a career-high 26 points, freshman Talen HortonTucker had 26 and the Cyclones (3-0) won their third straight.
Baylor 91, Prairie View 80: In Waco, Jared Butler scored 22 points, King McClure added 21 points with five 3-pointers and Baylor (2-1) finally pulled away late. The Bears never trailed and led by as many as 16 points in the first half. But their lead was only 5957 left with 9½ minutes left.