For the record-breaking 63rd consecutive victory in their beloved Allen Fieldhouse, the Kansas Jayhawks put on quite a show.
Steals, 3-pointers and even a behind-the-back dunk proved more than
outmanned Texas A&M-Corpus Christi could deal with. High, arching
alley-oop passes and perhaps the finest defense they've played this
season also highlighted a 21-6 first-half run that sent the No. 6
Jayhawks racing past the Islanders, doubling the score in an 82-41
victory that set a school record with 63 straight wins at home.
"I think everyone who's ever won a game as a Jayhawk at Allen
Fieldhouse knows how cool it is to be here and play here and have a
streak like this and keep it going," said 24-year-old senior guard Brady
Morningstar, the only current player who ever experienced a home loss.
Thomas Robinson had 15 points off the bench, Marcus Morris added 12
points and Markieff Morris had nine points and 10 rebounds as the
Jayhawks broke the record of 62 straight wins set in the 1990s under
coach Roy Williams.
"Of all the teams
we've had here, these guys like to play more than any team we've had,"
coach Bill Self said. "More pick up (games) together, shoot on their
own, all that stuff. That is contagious. This is a team that really does
like to play."
The six-time defending Big 12 champions (4-0) have not lost in Allen Fieldhouse since February 2007.
Mario Little and Travis Releford each had 11 points for the Jayhawks,
who are 117-6 in their 55-year-old fieldhouse in Self's seven-plus
seasons as head coach.
Tyshawn Taylor had
seven points and nine assists, including a couple of eye-catching
alley-oops that led to crowd-pleasing dunks.
The Islanders (1-4), playing their fifth game in 11 days, confused
the Jayhawks with a zone defense and slowdown offense but only for a few
minutes.
"They just turned up the heat
defensively and wouldn't let us be as patient as we wanted to and
wouldn't let us run a lot of the stuff we wanted to," Islanders coach
Perry Clark said. "Once they got off and running, it was like a
juggernaut. They were much more aggressive defensively tonight than they
seemed like on film. That certainly was the thing that turned the game
around."
Chris Mast's basket brought the
lead down to 21-11, but then Marcus Morris got a basket, Markieff Morris
dunked on an alley-oop from Elijah Johnson, and the Jayhawks were off
and running.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot only 31 percent while the Jayhawks hit 60 percent.
"We played pretty good defensively," Self said. "I think we have
improved in that area 50 percent at least since 10 days ago."
Demond Watt, who had 26 points and 12 rebounds last Monday against
Texas A&M, was one of three Islanders with seven points, joining
Justin Reynolds and Jaamon Echols.
The nation's second-longest current home streak belongs to Xavier, with 26 straight.
But the NCAA record still remains far in the distance. Starting in
1943, Kentucky won 129 straight home games until Jan. 8, 1955, when
Georgia Tech escaped Lexington with a 59-58 victory.
Kansas' 62-game streak, fashioned by such standouts as Paul Pierce,
Billy Thomas, Ryan Robertson, Jacque Vaughn and Raef LaFrentz, ran from
1994-98 and was halted by a loss to Iowa.
The new streak began with a victory over Kansas State on Feb. 7. 2007.
The Jayhawks closed out that season with three more wins in Allen
Fieldhouse, and then such players as Cole Aldrich, Sherron Collins,
Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush and the Morris Twins rang up unblemished
home records in the next three seasons of 19-0, 18-0 and 18-0.
If Self had his druthers, people would now stop talking about the
home streak and just let his team concentrate on each game as it comes.
But he knows that won't happen.
"We don't
talk about it much. But it is nice to have," he said. "I'm not going to
downplay it. But that shouldn't be something that's on our mind every
time we play at home, to continue the streak. I don't want that at all."
