LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Bill Self saw an unenergetic No. 6 Kansas team in the first half and he let his players hear about it.
"That's as miserable as an offensive
team can play," the Jayhawks coach said following their 60-46 win over
Texas Tech on Saturday. "We had to decide whether or not we wanted to be
here or not."
Self also noticed that Texas Tech wasn't guarding Kevin Young very tightly in the first half.
"In the second half he took advantage of
that personally," Self said. "He goes and scores eight straight points
or whatever to start the second half off of being aggressive."
He went on to score 14 points and the Jayhawks got their 13th straight win.
Jeff Withey and Travis Releford added
12 points each. Withey pulled down seven rebounds in the first Big 12
road game for Kansas (14-1, 2-0).
Jamal Williams made three free throws
with 5 seconds left in the first half to trim Kansas' lead to 27-25 at
the break. Dejan Kravic then made a foul shot at the beginning of the
second half to get the Red Raiders within one.
Kansas responded with a 14-2 run to
open a 41-28 lead with 13:41 remaining. Young started the spurt with a
layup and Releford closed it out with two free throws.
Williams scored 11 points for Texas
Tech (8-6, 1-2), and Kravic added nine points and eight rebounds. The
Red Raiders shot 35 percent from the field and committed 16 turnovers.
Kansas got the ball inside often, getting 28 points in the paint.
After shooting just 28 percent in the first half, Kansas more than doubled that, hitting 14 of 23 shots.
Texas Tech coach Chris Walker said the Red Raiders showed they can play top-10 teams and stay close.
"Obviously there are some things we've
got to continue to work on," the interim coach said. "Kansas is a team
where you can't make mistakes. They've got a lot of senior leadership
and they just take their time and take advantage of every mistake."
The Jayhawks have a quick turnaround, playing Baylor at home on Monday night.
"I don't know how you guys feel, but we looked like a tired team," Self said. "So we need to get our batteries recharged."
Releford knows the bull's eye is on the Jayhawks.
"We know every game coming out is going
to be tough because we're a team that every team wants to beat because
of what we've done in the past," the senior said.
Young scored eight of Kansas' first 14 points in the second half.
"We just had to stop them from attacking the offensive glass," he said.
Releford got back-to-back steals during
a 12-3 run late in the game. On one, he fed Young for a layup and on
the second one he outraced his defender and dunked it to put the
Jayhawks up 58-40.
Red Raiders reserve Jaye Crockett, who
averages 14.8 points, was held to three points on 1-of-8 shooting. He
made a 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the game.
The Jayhawks continued their pursuit of
a record ninth straight Big 12 title. Kansas has won six outright
championships and twice shared the title with Texas, in 2006 and `08 --
the year the Jayhawks won the national title.
Kansas went 16 for 18 at the line in the first half. It was the Jayhawks' lowest scoring first half of the season.
The Red Raiders scored five of the
final six points of the half, including Williams' foul shots after he
was fouled by Elijah Johnson while attempting a 3-pointer.
