Jayhawks take down Omaha

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas senior guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk recorded 26 points to lead the Jayhawks to a 109-64 win against Omaha in Allen Fieldhouse Monday night. KU shot over 62 percent from the field on the night, while five players ended up scoring in double figures.

The win improved Kansas to 9-2 on the season, while Omaha fell to 3-11 in 2017-18.

Mykhailiuk picked up where he left off Saturday night following his game-winning 3-pointer at Nebraska. The senior Ukrainian tied his career-high in 3-pointers with six Monday against the Mavericks. He got the potent Jayhawk offense going in the first half, scoring nine of his team’s first 17 points. Fellow senior guard Devonte’ Graham also had the hot hand in the opening 20 minutes, netting 15 points, with 12 coming from behind the 3-point line. The Mykhailiuk-Graham combination accounted for 29 of Kansas’ 55 first-half points.

Playing in his second-career game for KU and his first at Allen Fieldhouse, redshirt-sophomore guard Sam Cunliffe notched his first points in front of the home crowd in high-flying fashing, sending home an alley-oop slam from Graham at the 10:22 mark to get KU’s led to double-digits at 24-14. The Jayhawks’ explosive first-half offense was aided by the defense, which helped extend the lead over the waning minutes of the opening frame. The Jayhawks held the visitors scoreless over the final 4:52 of the half and exploded on an 11-0 run to head into the locker room with a 26-point lead, 55-29.

To start the second half, sophomore center Udoka Azubuike muscled out six of KU’s first 15 points and helped the KU lead grow to 68-39 by the 15:18 mark of the second frame. His efforts down low for the Jayhawks allowed the 7-0 foot big man to record his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds, a number that also tied his career high in boards.

Once again, the Kansas defense stepped up the pressure as the Mavericks had a tough time getting the lid off the rim. Omaha managed only one field goal for nearly nine minutes of the second half. During this stretch the Jayhawks went on a 30-5 run to get their lead up to 50 points on Chris Teahan’s 3-pointer with three minutes remaining.

Making his Kansas basketball debut, sophomore walk-on forward James Sosinski, saw a productive four minutes of action. The KU football tight end went 2-for-2 from the field and pulled down a pair of rebounds. His four points brought the KU total to 109 as the Jayhawks wrapped up the 45-point win, its largest margin of the season.

In addition to Mykhailiuk, Graham (17) and Azubuike, two other Jayhawks scored in double figures. Junior guard Lagerald Vick put up 15 points and was a rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards, while redshirt-sophomore guard Malik Newman finished with 14, nine of which came in the second half.

UP NEXT
Kansas will head to California where it faces Stanford at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Thursday, December 21 at 10 p.m. (CT). The game against the Cardinal, who are led by second-year head coach and former Kansas men’s basketball standout Jerod Haase (1993-97) will be broadcast live on ESPN2.