Udokah Azubuike leads Kansas basketball over Stanford
By Stan Unruh
The Kansas basketball team faced their third Pac 12 team of December Thursday night. The Jayhawks outmuscled Stanford 75-54.
Kansas basketball coaches, players and fans can relax and focus on finishing Christmas shopping after Thursday night’s win over Stanford. The Jayhawks, facing their third Pac 12 opponent, ran away early and held off the Cardinal at the beautiful, new Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Udokah Azubuike owned the paint to open the game and scored 10 of the Jayhawks first 12 points. It was fun to watch the sophomore giant as he improves a little with each Jayhawk contest. He finished with 24 points, 7 rebound and two blocked shots in 26 minutes.
At the 14-minute mark of the first half Devonte Graham hit a free throw after a Stanford technical foul. He followed it with 3-pointer. The points moved him past Stanford coach Jerod Haase on the Kansas basketball all-time scoring list.
As a matter of fact, the first half flew by quickly. After 6 lead changes early, the Jayhawks went on an18-2 run. Vick and Graham each had 10 points at the half. They would finish with 13 and 14 points respectively. Azubuike had 14 points at the break and the Crimson and Blue crew had an 18-point halftime advantage.
The 13th ranked Jayhawks struggled to begin the second half. I hated to see three early fouls including two on Azubuike. That led to a couple of turnovers and an 8-zip Cardinal run. On the other hand, Stanford turnovers kept them from taking advantage of the opportunity. The Jayhawks cruised to the finish line.
Three game win streak
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Give Hall of fame coach Bill Self credit, obviously. He prepared the Jayhawks for Reid Travis. The Cardinal red shirt junior hit 19 free throws last December at Allen Fieldhouse. Thursday night, the Pac 12 leading scorer made only one charity toss in 3 attempts. The Jayhawk defense held him to just 12 points.
The Jayhawks own a three-game winning streak. They can go enjoy some home cooking over the holiday. Big 12 play begins on the other side of the Christmas break.