Call Tyrel Reed a bondsman, because he’s becoming accustomed to bailing Kansas out of close games.

Three days after making two key three-pointers to help Kansas escape from New Mexico State, Reed did it again Saturday in an 86-62 victory against Jackson State.

The Tigers stuck with the Jayhawks for most of the game and trailed only 48-42 with 15 minutes remaining. Reed, a sophomore guard, proceeded to score eight points — off of two three-pointers and two free throws — in the next minute and a half to put the game out of the Tigers’ reach.

“The shots felt good today,” Reed said. “All of them did, even the ones that didn’t go in.”

Reed shot three-for-six from three-point range and finished with 11 points and four rebounds. His first three-pointer came when Kansas was down 28-26 with four minutes left in the first half. Reed swished a jumper at the top of the key after a pass from freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor. And the Jayhawks were never behind again.

Still, there was plenty of frustration. Kansas coach Bill Self has warned of the possibility of Kansas not being too potent without leading scorers Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich at their best.

The first half illustrated it perfectly. Aldrich, a sophomore center, played only 10 ineffective minutes because he got into foul trouble. Collins, a junior guard, missed his first seven shots, which included an air ball on an 18-footer and a fast break layup rejected by Tiger forward Garrison Johnson.

With neither Collins nor Aldrich energizing the Jayhawks, they struggled.

“It was a pretty stale performance,” Self said.

The Morris twins did all they could to freshen it at the beginning of the game. Marcus Morris scored on two consecutive possessions after spins from the block to the basket and threw down an alley-oop from Collins. Markieff Morris hit a three-pointer in transition and dunked a minute later.

Their energy came despite the fact that neither of them started for the first time since the first game of the season. Self opted to give senior center Matt Kleinmann, who had never started a game, the frontcourt spot alongside Aldrich against Jackson State.

“We’ve got to get everybody practicing at a high level,” Self said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

If the move’s purpose was to grab the freshmen twins’ attention, it surely appeared to work. Markieff finished the game with eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. Jackson State

Photo gallery of Kansas men's basketball game against Jackson State Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

Marcus was arguably more impressive with 13 points on five-for-six shooting and three rebounds. Collins thought Marcus’ day hinted at his maturation.

“He was down on himself a little bit, but he’s doing a good job of handling coach right now,” Collins said. “I think Marcus is figuring it out a bit.”

Same for Taylor. After the New Mexico State game, Self told Taylor he needed to record more than three assists for Kansas to be successful.

Taylor responded by telling Self he could handle that. He had 11 assists to combine with 10 points against Jackson State.

“I was just thinking about it a lot more,” Taylor said. “Like if I do this, this person will be open so feed them. I felt like I did that.”

Five of Taylor’s assists came in the second half when Collins and Aldrich began to break out of their early slump.

Collins ended up with 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals and Aldrich contributed 13 points and eight rebounds.

The majority of Collins’ and Aldrich’s points bookended Reed’s three-point outbreak. Typical to Reed’s style, he credited teammates for finding him open in the corner to make the shots. Reed wasn’t overjoyed with the victory.

“Overall, it was a flatter performance,” Reed said. “There were points and moments in the game when we looked good in the second half.”

Most of the points and moments came when Reed shot the ball.

— — Edited by Rachel Burchfield