Jayhawks Defeat Kangeroos 85-62

Monday, Nov. 12, 2007 | 10:34 a.m.

Despite winning by 23 points, Kansas still has room for improvement.

The fourth-ranked Jayhawks missed four dunks and shot only 16-for-31 from the free-throw line in an 85-62 win against overmatched Missouri-Kansas City on Sunday.

Mario Chalmers led the Jayhawks with 23 points.

"I thought our defense was better than what it was the other night, but it still has a lot of room to get better," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "It was good for us to sweat and to play under some duress. We did poorly at executing, blocking out and free-throw shooting at times. Still, we win by 23. But we have to get better."

In other games involving top 25 teams on Sunday, it was: No. 12 Oregon 80, Pacific 64; No. 14 Gonzaga 77, Montana 54; No. 22 Pittsburgh 69, Saint Louis 58; No. 23 Stanford 67, UC Santa Barbara 48; and No. 25 Kansas State 76, Pittsburg State 66.

The Kangaroos, playing their first game under new head coach Matt Brown, refused to go quietly.

The Jayhawks (2-0) spent much of the night blowing assignments and led the Kangaroos (0-1) only 62-52 when Jeremiah Hartsook hit a short jumper midway through the second half.

Chalmers responded by hitting an open 3-pointer, his fourth of the night.

As the Kangaroos hung around and cut the lead to 67-55 on Dane Brumagin's 3-pointer, visions of Oral Roberts' 78-71 upset of then-No. 3 Kansas in the Jayhawks' second game last season came to mind.

"I thought, truthfully, that we outhustled them tonight," Brown said. "I think they are a terrific basketball team and I think they have a chance to go to the Final Four, but I think in terms of effort, we were right there with them."

But Darnell Jackson made a short shot and after Chalmers missed his second dunk, Jackson hit again, and then followed Hartsook's 3-pointer with another bucket.

With 4:20 left, Chalmers made a 3-pointer for a 76-58 lead, then connected again from beyond the arc.

No. 12 Oregon 80, Pacific 64

Tajuan Porter scored 28 points and Malik Hairston added 20 points to help host Oregon defeat Pacific in the World Vision Invitational tournament.

Maarty Leunen had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Bryce Taylor also scored 10 points for the Ducks (2-0).

Porter went 10-for-15 from the field with five 3-pointers, while Oregon shot 48 percent from the field overall and made 10-for-21 3-pointers.

Pacific (1-1) shot 43 percent from the field but only 31 percent from the 3-point line (8-for-26) and turned the ball over 17 times to the Ducks' eight.

No. 14 Gonzaga 77, Montana 54

Freshman Austin Daye scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help host Gonzaga open its season by beating Montana.

Gonzaga (1-0) largely smothered the Montana offense, and coach Mark Few was able to give plenty of minutes to his bench players.

Matt Martin scored 18 points to lead Montana (1-1), which got into a hole early because of poor shooting and never threatened after that.

The Bulldogs made 53 percent of their field goals and 15 of 21 free throws. Montana made just 30 percent of its shots, including 5 of 22 3-pointers.

No. 22 Pittsburgh 69, Saint Louis 58

Levance Fields and freshman DeJuan Blair each scored 16 points to help host Pittsburgh hand Rick Majerus his first loss as coach of the Billikens.

Blair also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. The Panthers (3-0) completed a sweep of three games at the Hispanic College Fund Basketball Challenge.

Sam Young, the tournament's MVP, added 12 points for Pittsburgh, which hosted the four-team, round-robin exempt tournament, played over the past three days.

The Panthers, smaller and quicker this season, couldn't break free from Saint Louis in the first half and led 27-21 at halftime. But Pittsburgh wore down the Billikens (2-1) in the second half and built a 15-point lead before holding on to start a season 3-0 for the 10th consecutive time.

No. 23 Stanford 67, UC Santa Barbara 48

Anthony Goods scored 10 straight points during one first-half stretch and finished with 23, and host Stanford beat UC Santa Barbara to win the Basketball Travelers Classic.

Goods also grabbed six rebounds, and Robin Lopez added 12 points, two blocks and two steals for the unbeaten Cardinal, off to their first 3-0 start since beginning 26-0 in 2003-04.

Santa Barbara fell to 2-1.

No. 25 Kansas State 76, Pittsburg State 66

Michael Beasley scored 30 points, most of them during a critical second-half run, and host Kansas State escaped an upset.

The freshman forward also had 14 rebounds, posting his second double-double in two games. Beasley scored 16 points over the final 9 minutes, leading Kansas State (2-0) on a 26-9 spurt to close the game and avoid a loss to the Division II Gorillas.