Aldrich’s 15 points, big first half leads top-ranked Kansas to 99-64 rout over Radford

Aldrich, No. 1 Kansas cruise past Radford 99-64

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Cole Aldrich had 15 points and nine rebounds, and No. 1 Kansas used a dominating first half to rout Radford 99-64 Wednesday night.

Kansas (8-0) negated burly Radford center Art Parakhouski with double teams in the first half and hounded the rest of the Highlanders into poor shooting for its sixth win of at least 30 points this season. Sherron Collins had 15 points and eight assists, and Xavier Henry added 13 points to help the Jayhawks extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 47 games.

Radford (4-3) lost starting forward Phillip Martin to a hip injury two minutes into the game and struggled against Kansas’ relentless pressure in its first trip to Allen Fieldhouse. Joey Lynch-Flohr had 26 points — most on jump hooks — and Parakhouski scored all of his 21 points in the second half for the Highlanders.

The marquee matchup of this rout-in-the-making was between the two NBA-quality centers.

Aldrich was a preseason All-American and averages 10.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and is seventh in the nation with 3.6 blocked shots per game.

Parakhouski was the Big South preseason player of the year and is averaging 22.3 points to go with a nation-best 14.8 rebounds.

Aldrich took a few hurried shots after getting a left-handed hook swatted by Parakhouski early before settling into a rhythm. The junior finished 5 for 9 from the floor after scoring seven points on 1-of-6 shooting Saturday against UCLA.

Kansas doubleteamed Parakhouski on nearly every touch in the post in the first half, and he had a hard time figuring it out. The big senior missed both of his shots in the half and didn’t score until powering through Aldrich two minutes into the second. Parakhouski found a little more room after Kansas dropped the double teams, finishing 8 for 12 with 13 rebounds.

Unlike some of the other small-conference programs to visit Allen Fieldhouse this season, Radford had the size to match up with the Jayhawks.

Parakhouski is a sturdy 6-foot-11, and athletic forwards Lynch-Flohr and Lazar Trifunovic are both 6-8.

The big Highlanders gave Kansas a little trouble early in their first game against a No. 1 team.

Lynch-Flohr and Trifunovic had the all-angles jump hooks working, while the Jayhawks struggled to shake the cobwebs out, including a hang-on-the-rim dunk attempt on a breakaway by Markieff Morris.

The Jayhawks quickly put an end to any thoughts of an upset, though, ripping off a 12-2 run and extending the lead to double up Radford 36-18 by halftime.

Lynch-Flohr was the lone bright spot for Radford in the first half with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The rest of the Highlanders spent most of the half shooting airballs and shots off the side of the backboard, combining to go 2 for 16 from the floor as Kansas ran away with it.