Henry has 24 points, Aldrich a double-double, No. 1 Kansas cruises past Colorado 94-74

No. 1 Kansas beats Colorado 94-74

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Cole Aldrich had a double-double and Xavier Henry gave notice that his freshman slump is done, scoring 24 points Saturday and leading No. 1 Kansas to a 94-74 victory over Colorado that reached and neared many milestones.

Tyshawn Taylor, back in the starting lineup after a nine-game absence, had 17 points for the Jayhawks (26-1, 12-0), who entered the day with a three-game lead in pursuit of their sixth straight Big 12 championship.

Senior point guard Sherron Collins scored 13 points and took part in his 123rd victory, tying him for the most by a player in school history. With the rest of the regular season and the postseason ahead, he seems a cinch to break the record held by Raef LaFrentz, C.B. McGrath and Billy Thomas from 1995-98.

Another looming goal is the 2,000th win for the Jayhawks. With four games remaining in the regular season, they are at 1,996.

And in yet one more streak, the Buffaloes (12-14, 3-9) were consecutive victim No. 57 on Kansas’ home court. It’s the longest home streak in the nation and getting close to the school-record 62 set during the Roy Williams era.

Alec Burks had 17 points and Marcus Relphorde added 16 for Colorado, which could not stop the Jayhawks from scoring their highest points total since beating Radford 99-64 on Dec. 9.

Aldrich had 17 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double in nine games and 13th this season. With five blocks, the 6-foot-11 junior ran his school record to 103.

Henry, the most highly touted prospect Kansas coach Bill Self ever signed, got his college career off to a sizzling start, scoring in double figures in 14 of his first 15 games and was even being compared to Kentucky freshman sensation John Wall.

But just as suddenly, he dropped into what coaches described as a “typical freshman funk” and struggled for five games.

He seemed to snap out of it with 15 points at Texas on Feb. 8, and then on Saturday enjoyed by far his finest outing of the conference season. His second 3-pointer gave the Jayhawks a nine-point lead just 5 minutes into the game and he wound up hitting 9 of 16 from the field while adding six rebounds.

He made consecutive baskets midway through the second half, added a free throw for a 69-48 lead, and then drilled a long 3-pointer a moment later as the Jayhawks beat Colorado for the 42nd time in 43 games.

After getting pushed into overtime before winning at Colorado on Feb. 3, the Jayhawks took control quickly on their home court.

Collins had a 3-pointer and added two free throws during a 17-5 run for a 21-point lead with about 7 minutes left in the first half.