Morris, inside game help No. 3 Kansas overcome shaky start to rout Texas Tech 89-63

Kansas shaky early, strong late to beat Texas Tech

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Marcus Morris had 20 points, Xavier Henry added 14 and No. 3 Kansas overcame a sloppy start by getting the ball inside to rout Texas Tech 89-63 on Saturday.

Kansas (16-1, 2-0 Big 12) wasn’t sharp at the start of its conference home opener, flinging passes and airballs all over the building. The Jayhawks straightened out just before halftime, working the ball inside to start the rout and extend their nation-best home winning streak to 52 straight.

John Roberson had 16 points for Texas Tech (12-5, 0-3), which hadn’t won at Allen Fieldhouse in 10 previous trips and never stood much of a chance at ending the futility.

The Red Raiders, who lost by 58 points here two years ago, trailed by 24 after an abysmal offensive first half and never recovered to open conference play with three straight losses for the first time since an 0-9 start in 1999-2000.

Kansas hounded Texas Tech early, making every possession feel like a boot camp obstacle course.

The Red Raiders labored against the Jayhawks’ pressure, struggling to complete passes, much less find shots. Texas Tech shot 5 of 24 in the first half, hitting one field goal during one 12-minute span, and many of its 14 turnovers came on passes that had no chance of being completed.

Kansas’ offense? At least for a little while the Jayhawks were inefficient and sloppy, often following a Texas Tech turnover with an even uglier one of their own.

Exasperated Kansas coach Bill Self spent a good portion of the first half trying to find someone who could throw the ball to the right team, rotating in 10 players, including one four-man substitution after point guard Tyshawn Taylor fired a pass to no one that ricocheted off the scorer’s table.

Kansas finally shook off its funk by going inside.

Markieff Morris got it started, scoring on a putback then a post-up. Marcus, his twin, added a post move of his own and Thomas Robinson followed with a basket on a hard drive.

The inside opened up the outside, leading to consecutive 3-pointers by Brady Morningstar and Henry that kicked off a half-closing 13-2 run. Marcus Morris capped it with tomahawk dunk on the break to put Kansas up 42-18.

The Jayhawks squelched any thought of a comeback, getting two putbacks by Marcus Morris and a how’d-he-get-that-high rebound slam by Henry over three players that made it 54-24.

The big cushion allowed Kansas to suffer through a string of defensive breakdowns that led to a 12-0 run by Texas Tech that cut the lead to 56-38 with 11½ minutes left. The Red Raiders never got closer.

Cole Aldrich added 14 points for Kansas, which had a 34-20 advantage inside.