Kansas Coasts to Win Over FGCU

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Sherron Collins scored 18 of his game and career-high 25 points in the first half to lead No. 23 Kansas basketball to an 85-45 victory against Florida Gulf Coast in the second round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Tuesday night.

Kansas improved to 2-0, while the game was the season opener for the Eagles of the Atlantic Sun Conference.  The meeting was the first between the two programs all-time.
 
Cole Aldrich added 12 points on six of seven shooting, as well as six rebounds, three blocks and three steals for the Jayhawks.  Marcus Morris pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and made a game-best four steals in just 20 minutes of play.
 
Reed Baker led FGCU with 11 points, while Kyle Marks chipped in six points and a team-best six rebounds.
 
Sherron Collins finished the game nine of 14 shooting, including a four-of-six mark from three-point range.  He handed out three assists in 29 minutes of play.  Collins' previous scoring best was a 23-point effort against Missouri last season.  His four threes tied his career best for the fourth time
 
Backcourt mate Brady Morningstar started and handed out a game-high six assists to go along with four points and three steals.
 
Kansas jumped out to a 45-13 halftime lead and never looked back in the victory.  Fifteen Jayhawks saw action in the game with 12 different players scoring.
 
KU dominated the game inside outscoring FGCU 40-14 in the paint and out-rebounding the visitors 47-35.  KU also forced 24 turnovers and turned those into 31 points.  KU shot 49 percent for the game and limited FGCU to just 23.6 percent from the field.
 
After KU jumped out to a 6-0 lead to open the game, Collins scored 12 of KU's next 17 points.  The Jayhawks opened the game scoring the first eight points and a 14-0 run later in the half pushed the margin to 32-9.
 
FGCU's first points of the game came on free throws at the 15:32 mark and the Eagles' first basket did not come until there was 12:03 left in the first half when they trailed 13-4
 
Collins had 18 points in the first half to FGCU's 13 points as a team.  Collins made six of eight shots, including three of four behind the three-point line in the first 20 minutes.  FGCS was three of 25 shooting in the half, but made seven of nine free throws.  The Eagles started the game one of 13 from the field as eight different players missed shots in that stretch.
 
KU out-rebounded FGCU 24-18 in the first half as the visiting Eagles committed 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
KU's win was its 26th straight home victory and came on the anniversary of the birth of legendary Jayhawk coach Phog Allen, whom the home arena is named after.
 
Prior to the game, the 2008 national championship banner was revealed alongside the four other national title banners KU has hanging in the north end of the Fieldhouse.
 
Kansas will continue play in the CBE Classic, meeting Washington in the semifinal of the event on Monday, Nov. 24 and either Florida or Syracuse on Tuesday.  Both games will take place at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
 
Tipoff for the Washington game is at 9 p.m.  The game will be televised on ESPN2.  Tuesday's third-place game will take place at 6:45 p.m. on ESPNU, while the championship game will start at 9:15 p.m. on ESPN2.

Box Score