KU runs past New Orleans, 73-56

The University Kansas used a balanced scoring attack and 48 points from the bench to defeat the University of New Orleans, 73-56, Thursday at Allen Fieldhouse. The win was the Jayhawks' fourth in a row and improved their record to 7-4 on the season.

"We were going to play ten guys," said Self. Christian Moody didn't play as much. He got off to a bad start and then dislocated his finger, so that made it really easy to play ten. Our bench was a lot better than our starters tonight. There is no doubt about that. I think it is good for our bench.

"I thought Mario (Chalmers) had his best game of the season. I thought Jeremy (Case) was terrific. Julian (Wright) had his best game offensively of the season," he added. "He did a lot of good things. I thought Darnell (Jackson) was solid, and I thought Stephen (Vinson) was excellent. You are talking about five guys that deserved every minute they got and probably should have played more."

Freshman Julian Wright and sophomore Jeremy Case led KU with 12 points each and were two of ten Jayhawks to tally points. Sophomore Russell Robinson notched nine points while freshman Mario Chalmers and sophomore Darnell Jackson scored eight points off the bench.

A UNO 3-pointer with 2:14 remaining in the first half pulled the Privateers to within four points at 23-19. Kansas then went on an 11-0 run to go into haltime with a 34-19 lead. The Jayhawks also began the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 40-19 lead.

Wright finished the game 6-of-7 from the field after making his first five shots. The Chicago, Ill., native tied a career high with four blocked shots while playing a team-high 29 minutes.

Case scored in double-figures for a second consecutive game on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Rush pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Chalmers added five assists and four steals.

"It (perimeter shooting) was better and more balanced, and a lot of that is because of Jeremy (Case)," said Self. "He had a good attitude when he wasn't playing and he came in and made shots. But he does more than just make shots. If Jeremy is only concerned with making shots, he won't make as many.

"He is concerned with being well-rounded and he is doing better defensively," he added. "He is stepping up and making shots because he is feeling good about how he is playing. Stephen Vinson made a couple of big shots for us, but we still need to get some low post play. We didn't have much post play at all tonight."

KU shot 50 percent from the field during the game while holding UNO to 34 percent, including 23 percent in the first half. KU tallied 23 assists on 29 field goals.

The Jayhawks will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 4 against Yale. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.