Braun scores 18 as No. 23 Kansas beats Kansas State

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Christian Braun hit four 3-pointers and scored 18 points, half of them during an 18-3 charge midway through the second half, and No. 23 Kansas rolled past Kansas State 74-51 on Tuesday night.

David McCormack also had 18 points and Ochai Agbaji added 15 for the Jayhawks (12-6, 6-4 Big 12), who finally showed some moxie after dropping four of their previous five games, including a blowout loss at No. 11 Tennessee over the weekend.

Kansas improved to 200-94 against the Wildcats (5-14, 1-9), the most wins by any Division I school over another in men's college hoops. The Jayhawks have won 15 consecutive games against their longtime rivals in Allen Fieldhouse.

Mike McGuirl scored 10 points for Kansas State, but was just 3 of 10 from the field and 1 for 6 from beyond the arc. Nijel Pack followed his 26-point outburst against Texas A&M with 10, and committed four turnovers in his Phog debut.

The result was the Wildcats' ninth consecutive loss dating to Dec. 29. All but two have been by double figures.

Neither team was particularly pretty on offense in the first half. At least Kansas played a little defense.

The Jayhawks forced the scoring-challenged Wildcats into seven first-half turnovers, held them to just 2 of 9 from behind the 3-point line and forced Kansas State into more airballs (three) than they managed second-chance points (two).

The result was a 33-25 halftime margin that felt like twice that much.

It didn't take long before it WAS that much.

Kansas held the Wildcats without a field goal for the first 5 minutes of the second half, then again for another 5-minute stretch. Those long slumps allowed the Jayhawks to put together one of their all-too-familiar runs, an 18-3 scoring binge midway through the second half that resulted in a 56-32 lead with 10 minutes to go.

Braun was the catalyst with back-to-back 3-pointers, but McCormack and Agbaji added dunks and Mitch Lightfoot made a couple of free throws as the Jayhawks' offense got in sync — at least for a stretch — for the first time in weeks.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State finished with 13 turnovers, went 5 of 21 from 3-point range and couldn't keep the bigger Jayhawks off the glass at either end of the floor. Sure, the Wildcats are starting three freshman and play a fourth off the bench, but the growing pains have been painfully obvious for coach Bruce Weber since the new year began.

Kansas only committed six turnovers and three of them came from Marcus Garrett, their primary ballhandler. That's a good sign the Jayhawks are starting to execute better on the offensive end: The 74 points were their most since a 93-64 win over TCU on Jan. 6.

UP NEXT

Kansas State heads home to play No. 13 Texas Tech on Saturday. Kansas visits West Virginia the same afternoon.

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