National Basketball Association
Kansas 76, Rhode Island 60
When: 2:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 27, 2014
Where: HP Field House, Kissimmee, Florida
Officials:
# Roger Ayers, # Karl Hess, # Zelton Steed
Attendance:
3915
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 12 Kansas 76, Rhode Island 60: Perry Ellis led a balanced scoring effort with 17 points as the Jayhawks rolled past the Rams in the opening round of the Orlando Classic.
Frank Mason III had 12 points and five assists as Kansas (3-1) improved to 33-6 in regular-season tournaments under coach Bill Self and will face Tennessee in Friday's semifinals. Wayne Selden Jr. contributed 10 points and seven rebounds for the Jayhawks, who recorded eight steals and seven blocks while holding Rhode Island to 36.5 percent from the field.
E.C. Matthews led the way with 20 points on 6-of 18 shooting for Rhode Island (3-1), which will meet Santa Clara in Friday's consolation round. Gilvydas Biruta added 16 points and seven boards as the Rams surrendered as many 3-pointers to Kansas as it had over its first three games combined (eight).
Kansas flexed its muscles in the first six-plus minutes as three different players hit a 3-pointer during an early 13-2 run that helped the Jayhawks establish a 17-6 edge. Biruta knocked down a pair of jumpers to close the gap within seven before Ellis scored eight points during another 18-4 spurt to increase the advantage to 21 with just over five minutes remaining before the break.
Biruta scored 10 points in the opening 9½ minutes of the second half as Rhode Island trimmed the deficit to 13, but Kansas never let its lead dip below double digits. Mason’s 3-pointer with 5½ minutes to go answered the Rams’ last push and the Jayhawks cruised thereafter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kansas has scored 163 points over the last two games after tallying 109 in its first two contests. … Rhode Island ended a 22-game losing streak against Top 25 opponents in its last game – a 66-62 home win over then-No.21 Nebraska on Saturday – but fell to 13-92 all-time against ranked foes with Thursday’s result. … Highly touted Kansas freshman G Devonte Graham returned to action after missing Monday’s victory versus Rider with a left shoulder injury, but aggravated the injury midway through the second half. He returned with less than five minutes left and finished with 10 points.
Top Game Performances
| Kansas |
|
Rhode Island |
|
Perry Ellis 17 |
Scoring |
E.C. Matthews 20 |
|
Frank Mason 5 |
Assists |
T.J. Buchanan 3 |
|
Cliff Alexander 8 |
Rebounds |
Gilvydas Biruta 7 |
|
Perry Ellis 6 |
Free Throws Made |
E.C. Matthews 5 |
|
Landen Lucas 2 |
Steals |
Gilvydas Biruta 1 |
|
Cliff Alexander 2 |
Blocks |
E.C. Matthews 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Kansas
|
76 |
47.2 |
8-17 |
18-25 |
13 |
34 |
7 |
8 |
11 |
| Rhode Island
|
60 |
36.5 |
7-17 |
15-24 |
6 |
29 |
2 |
4 |
11 |
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