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  Monday, Nov. 27 8:05pm ET
Boschee leads Jayhawks with 19
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Jeff Boschee had a miserable first half from the perimeter. Once he found his stroke, outmatched Middle Tennessee had one more thing to worry about.

Boschee, 0-for-4 from 3-point range before the break, was 3-for-5 from long range in the second half and finished with 19 points as Kansas (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 AP) beat the Blue Raiders 92-66 behind its most balanced scoring attack in almost seven years.

Kirk Hinrich
Point guard Kirk Hinrich, right, scrambles for a loose ball with Bryant Mitchell. Hinrich had 10 points and 10 assists for KU.

"The first half, I kind of rushed it a little bit, and they were putting some good defensive pressure on me," said Boschee, one of seven Kansas players in double figures -- the most since Jan. 14, 1993, when seven players reached double figures against Oral Roberts. "The second half, we were able to get some more movement offensively, and that freed us up a little more."

Eric Chenowith recorded his third double-double of the season for Kansas, with 15 points and 12 rebounds, as the Jayhawks (6-0) outrebounded the Blue Raiders 49-27. Point guard Kirk Hinrich also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.

Nick Collison had 14 points, Kenny Gregory and Luke Axtell scored 11 points apiece in reserve roles, and Drew Gooden finished with 10 points for Kansas. Boschee and Axtell had three 3-pointers each, and Hinrich hit both of his 3-point attempts.

"You have to pick your poison," Middle Tennessee coach Randy Wiel said. "You guard them inside, and then they start making those threes."

All three of Boschee's 3-pointers and 11 of his points came in the first seven minutes of the second half, as Kansas built its 17-point halftime lead to 67-37.

"He really kicked us," Middle Tennessee center Lee Nosse said. "They get you down by 12, and then you're down by 20, 30 points before you can call a 20-second time-out.

Fernando Ortiz hit three 3-pointers and scored 12 points to lead Middle Tennessee (1-2), which shot 39 percent (22-for-57) from the field. Freddie Martinez and Bryant Mitchell each added 11 points for the Blue Raiders. Lee Nosse had 10.

Kansas shot 51 percent. But the Jayhawks' 35-for-69 shooting was not good enough for coach Roy Williams.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well," Williams said. "We missed some shots we normally make, missed some inside shots -- but I think you have to give credit to their defense. I think sometimes we were looking at the guy coming at us, or looking at their guy inside."

Middle Tennessee missed nine of its first 10 shots -- compared to Kansas' 6-for-10 early shooting -- and trailed 19-6 after eight minutes. But Ortiz hit three 3-pointers as the Blue Raiders cut Kansas' lead to 28-24 with less than 6½ minutes to go in the half.

Collison's dunk with 6:23 left and Axtell's 3-pointer 20 seconds later ignited an 11-0 run for Kansas, part of a larger 17-4 surge that gave the Jayhawks a 45-28 halftime lead.

Axtell, who sprained his left ankle in the preseason, was making just his second appearance.

"I'm getting more able to recognize what I can do on it," said Axtell, who scored five points in 17 minutes on Saturday in a 99-56 win over Division II Washburn. "That first game back, I didn't know if I was going to hurt it. There's still some pain there, but there's no ligament damage."

Both teams were plagued by turnovers in the first half, Middle Tennessee committing 13 and the Jayhawks 12. Each team committed five turnovers in the second half.
 


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