February 1, 2012

The junior forward had four assists and a couple of blocks for
the Jayhawks (18-4, 8-1 Big 12), who responded to their first
conference loss last Saturday at Iowa State by outscoring the
Sooners 50-31 over the course of the second half.
Tyshawn Taylor had 21 points, Jeff Withey added 15 and Travis
Releford had 12 as Kansas tuned up for a high-profile showdown at
No. 4 Missouri on Saturday.
Romero Osby scored 19 points, Steven Pledger had 17 and Andrew
Fitzgerald finished with 14 for the Sooners (13-8, 3-6), who were
within 34-31 at halftime before Kansas hit its stride.
The Jayhawks haven't lost to Oklahoma in the last nine meetings,
and the last 10 at Allen Fieldhouse, where they have won 19
straight overall. They have also gone 225 games without consecutive
defeats, the longest streak in the nation. Duke is next at 110
games.
Kansas had its meager halftime lead despite making one field
goal in the final 5:34.
The game nearly got out of hand much earlier, when Elijah
Johnson hit consecutive 3-pointers and Taylor -- after some
encouragement from coach Bill Self -- carved into the lane for an
acrobatic layup. Robinson's putback moments later gave the Jayhawks
a 30-19 lead.
Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger wisely called for a timeout, and his
Sooners embarked on 12-2 run.
Cameron Clark's basket started it and Pledger added a deep
3-pointer from the wing. The hot-shooting Pledger, who had 30
points in a win over Kansas State last weekend, capped the spurt
with another 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the half, drawing
the Sooners within 32-31.
Taylor's two foul shots just before the buzzer restored the
three-point cushion.
It turned out to be the closest Oklahoma got.
Withey, who played just 8 minutes in the first half due to foul
trouble, scored the first basket of the second half, sending the
Jayhawks on a 12-2 run that resulted in a 44-33 lead.
Robinson added an impressive dunk off a feed from Taylor, who
finished with six assists, and Kansas kept drawing away. Taylor's
deep 3 from the wing as the shot clock wound down pushed the lead
to 59-39 with 11:41 left in the game.
The lead reached 30 when Withey made a nice post move on C.J.
Washington and drew a foul with 4:06 left. The 7-footer, an 86
percent free throw shooter, made both for an 80-49 lead.
Self substituted liberally after that, allowing his starters to
bask in the adoration of another sellout crowd and rest up before
the first installment this season of the Border War.
The Jayhawks have been wary all week not to look ahead to their
game against No. 4 Missouri (20-2, 7-2), who had a couple of extra
days to prepare after beating Texas on Monday night. They can now
turn their full attention to one of the biggest regular-season
matchups between the teams.