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Kansas defeats New Mexico State, 100-79

By Mark Dent

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

FINAL: 100-79, Kansas wins.

Photo Gallery

Men's Basketball vs. New Mexico State

Photo gallery of Kansas game vs. New Mexico State Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas picked up its third victory in a row after the Syracuse loss from last week.

This one wasn't too easy. The Jayhawks were up by only eight about midway through the second half. Then the run started.

Quintrell Thomas had a dunk. Sherron Collins and Tyrel Reed had threes. More offense came after that.

Tyshawn Taylor had a dunk. So did Cole Aldrich, who had 13 points late in the second half after going scoreless in the first half.

Yeah, it was close for a while because NMSU hit some big threes. But Kansas picked up control by forcing turnovers in the opening minutes and never lost momentum.

10:55 left in the second half

KU leads 66-51.

They're starting to pull away for now.

The Jayhawks are in the midst of an 8-0 run, which started with a Quintrell Thomas dunk. Speaking of Thomas, is he officially off the milk carton? He'd been lost for about the last month but is giving key minutes tonight.

After Thomas' dunk, Collins and Tyrel Reed hit consecutive threes. Reed has two of them tonight. They both came the possession after Collins made one. Cool, huh?

15:43 left in the second half

KU leads 54-43: New Mexico State won't go away just yet.

The Aggies are taking a lot of three-pointers and making a decent amount. They were 4-of-12 at half, and so far in the second half, Jonathan Gibson and Troy Gillenwater have each made a big three-pointer to keep NMSU within striking distance.

Here's a good sign for KU fans. After going scoreless with two fouls in the first half, Cole Aldrich has three points in the first five minutes this half.

Halftime

KU leads 42-31.

New Mexico State proved it wasn't a pushover. But Kansas showed enough mettle to keep the Aggies behind by a relatively comfy margin.

With about six minutes left, NMSU pulled within six at 31-25. Kansas was in a drought. Would be for another three minutes. Then the reserves stepped up.

It was a funny lineup- Conner Teahan was playing the four for the most part, but the Jayhawks got it done. Sherron Collins had a big and one layup. Then Quintrell Thomas got a dunk. After that Collins got another layup after an NMSU turnover. It was 40-29. Kansas went on an 11-4 to close the half.

It should be interesting to see how Kansas will do with Cole Aldrich back on the floor in the second half. It will also be interesting to see if Self puts Markieff back in the game

7:45 left in the first half

KU leads 27-19: Another game, another flagrant foul for Markieff Morris.

This one came at the 8:30 mark. New Mexico State was on a breakaway, and he hustled back and grabbed the Aggies player, not going for the ball.

It was an obvious intentional foul.

On Monday, Markieff got ejected for one of them. This time, he's still in.

In some ways, you have to love Markieff's intensity. But in a close game, he'll need to keep his cool a little bit better.

11:19 left in the first half

KU leads 21-12: The three ball has been good to the Jayhawks so far.

It started with Brady Morningstar. He made one to give Kansas an 11-2 lead. Then came Tyrel Reed and Sherron Collins.

With about 13 minutes left, they made consecutive threes, extending the Hawks' lead to nine and causing the Aggies to call a timeout.

All year, the three ball has been pretty good to KU. With two guards who can consistently hit the long range shots on the floor most of the time, and two inside guys like the Morris Twins who aren't to shoot, the Jayhawks are a real long ball threat.

15:32 left in the first half

KU Leads 11-5- Well, this one might not be a foul fest. So far it's been run and gun for Kansas and New Mexico State.

The game started off with an easy hybrid dunk/layup by Tyshawn Taylor for the Jayhawks and the pace has been frantic since. KU responded with three straight steals and built an early lead.

The Aggies have answered with a couple outside jumpers, but otherwise Kansas has been able to penetrate and get easy points inside.

Pregame

Two years ago, this game would've been a dream for New Mexico State.

The Aggies would've had coach Reggie Theus. They would've had Fred Peete, a player who transferred for K-State. They would've had a shot to beat a nationally ranked team on the road.

Tonight? The chances aren't so good. Not only is Theus gone - has been since that year - but New Mexico State is a completely new team than the one that made the NCAA Tournament two years ago and won the WAC last year.

The Aggies are young and small. They're looking for an identity.

Kansas is young too. But with much more talent. This game could be close. New Mexico State might have a chance. But not like two years ago.

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