The Kansas Jayhawks broke out of their shooting doldrums and broke open their game with the South Florida Bulls. The 15th-ranked Jayhawks outscored USF 46-21 in the second half to take an easy 70-42 win on Saturday evening at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas.
The Bulls (5-4) threw a zone defense at the Jayhawks for most of the first half, and Kansas was unable to hit the outside shots that they would need to break it. The Jayhawks shot just 1-for-11 from three-point range in the first half, and only held a 24-21 halftime lead. But Kansas (5-2) warmed up after halftime, shooting 54% from the field and getting to the foul line much more frequently. Travis Releford, Connor Teahan and Tyshawn Taylor hit consecutive three-pointers to finally give the home team a 47-33 lead midway through the second half, and the lead did not dip back into single digits again.
Taylor scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half, finishing 8-for-10 from the field, including four 3-pointers. Thomas Robison had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Teahan scored 11 for Kansas. USF’s Augustus Gilchrist was the only Bull in double figures, scoring 11 points. But he also committed six of USF’s 19 turnovers, and his team shot only 32.6% from the floor.
USF will take the upcoming week off for semester exams before returning to action next Sunday against Florida A&M at the Bob Martinez Center on the campus of the University of Tampa.