The No. 8 Kansas Jayhawks Defeat the UTEP Miners 78-52

The Kansas Jayhawks welcomed the UTEP Miners inside the T Mobile
Center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas, who is recently
coming off of a 95-75 win against St. John’s was prepared for UTEP.

Heading into this game, the Jayhawks are 43-10 overall inside the T
Mobile Center. KU is averaging 85.4 points per game which are ranked
12th nationally. Senior Ochai Agbaji is averaging 22.6 points per
game, and he is ranked 3rd overall nationally. On December 6th
Christian Braun was named Big Player of the Week. Needless to say the
Jayhawks were ready to play basketball as they would win 78-52.

The Jayhawks Were Led by Ogbaji and Braun

The Jayhawks were extremely aggressive from tip-off as they would go
on a 10-0 run to open the game. UTEP would not score their first
basket until 13:23 in the first half when Souley Boum would hit a
3-point shot for the Miners. The leadership of both Christian Braun
and Ochai Agbaji was present for the Jayhawks in the first half.
Braun was 5-6 for 10 points. Agbaji was 5-of-6 with 13 points. KU
would head into half up 42-21.

Bill Self Let the Bench Play for the Jayhawks

The second half was almost a mirror reflection on the stat sheet of
both Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji. Braun would finish with 20
points in the game shooting 9-of-12 and 2-of-3 from the 3-point line.
He would add six rebounds. Agbaji would score a game-high 23
points shooting 9-of-12 and 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. Head coach
Bill Self would deploy more players in the second half as the bench
players logged some minutes.

The Jayhawks Had Some Blemishes

The Jayhawks played a well-rounded basketball game but would have some blemishes. Bill Self will be disappointed with his team’s 16 turnovers. UTEP would score 10 points off of those turnovers. KU also struggled from the 3-point line shooting 6-of-20 (30%). Kansas did
improve from the free-throw line shooting 12-of-16 (75%). They would
also win the rebound battle taking in 40 total rebounds versus 29 for
the Miners.

Jayhawks Take on Tigers in Border Showdown

The next game for the Jayhawks runs deep for KU fans as they will
square off on Saturday, December 11th at 2:15 P.M. CT against the
Missouri Tigers. The Border Showdown is being rekindled and the game
will be played at Lawrence, Kansas inside historic Allen Fieldhouse.