Aldrich Leads KU Over Siena, 91-84

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Cole Aldrich scored a career-high 24 points and added 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the year to lead Kansas basketball to a 91-84 victory against Siena on Tuesday night.

The victory improved Kansas to 11-3 on the season.  The Jayhawks extended the nation's third-longest active homecourt winning streak to 33 games, a figure which also ties for the third-longest in school history.  Siena fell to 10-5 overall this year.
 
The game was the 500th as a head coach for Kansas' Bill Self.  Self is in his 16th season as a head coach with a 360-140 record, including a 153-35 mark in his sixth year at Kansas.
 
The Jayhawks led throughout the game, but Siena never backed down, pulling within five at 87-82 near the end of the contest.  However, Kansas made 12 of 14 free throws in the game's final three minutes to clinch the victory.
 
Sherron Collins scored 18 points, while Tyrel Reed added 14 for the Jayhawks.  Siena was led by Ronald Moore, who had 18 in leading four different Saints in double figures.
 
Cole Aldrich surpassed his previous scoring best of 23 against Coppin State as he hit nine of 13 shots from the field and six of nine from the free throw line.  It marked the third straight game the sophomore center reached the 20-point plateau as he had 20 vs. Albany and 22 vs. Tennessee prior to Tuesday.
 
Kansas led by as many as 20 points in the first half and as many as 16 early in the second half at 63-47.  However, Siena went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 63-54 and then pulled within 69-65 after a stretch with three straight three-pointers.
 
Collins stopped the bleeding and energized the crowd with a three-pointer that sparked a 6-0 run as Kansas went up 75-65.
 
For the game Kansas shot 47.5 percent from the field, but made 26 of 32 free throws.  The Jayhawks also out-rebounded Siena 42-29, including a 25-16 advantage in the second half.
 
Down 9-5 at the first media timeout, Kansas went on a 25-1 run, including a stretch with 18 straight points to build a 30-10 advantage with 9:46 remaining in the first half.  Siena stopped a five-minute span without a field goal when Clarence Jackson drilled the first of his back-to-back three-pointers.
 
The teams ended the first half with Kansas leading 51-38.  The point totals were season highs for both the Jayhawks and their opponents.  Reed and Aldrich each had 10 points at intermission, while Jackson had 11 and Kenny Hasbrouck 10 for the visitors.
 
KU scored 14 points off seven Siena first-half turnovers and added 13 second-chance points on eight offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.  Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field and while Siena made four of seven three-pointers, Kansas made six of 13 from behind the arc.
 
Kansas will close out its non-conference portion of the regular season with a visit to eighth-ranked Michigan State on Saturday.  Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. Central and the game will be televised on CBS.
 
The Jayhawks will then open Big 12 Conference play when they host Kansas State on Tuesday Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Story courtesy:  KUAC