LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas men’s basketball will carry a perfect 2-0 record into Tuesday’s Champions Classic showdown between AP top-10 squads in KU and Duke.
Junior forward Jalen Wilson scored 21 points (17 the first half) and grabbed nine rebounds, while freshman guard Gradey Dick contributed 12 points and six boards as the No. 5-ranked Jayhawks followed Monday’s 89-64 season-opening victory over Omaha with an 82-59 victory over North Dakota State on Thursday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
It was KU’s last game before the prestigious one-day Champions Classic doubleheader in Indianapolis. Kentucky will play Michigan State in the first game of the early-season extravaganza.
Freshman wing MJ Rice, who missed the opener because of a back injury, had 10 points and four rebounds. Freshman center Ernest Udeh had eight points and four rebounds, while sophomore backup point guard Bobby Pettiford had eight assists.
Senior guard Kevin McCullar posted six points and seven rebounds for KU, which has played two Summit League teams to open the regular season.
No. 7-ranked Duke, which meets KU at 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, is 1-0 heading into Friday’s home game against South Carolina Upstate. Duke defeated Jacksonville, 71-44, in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday.
Also on Thursday, junior KU guard Joseph Yesufu hit two 3s and a long 2 to reach eight points. Freshman forward Zuby Ejiofor had seven rebounds and three points in limited duty and point guard Dajuan Harris posted five points and five assists.
Grant Nelson scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds for North Dakota State, which hit 36.2% of its shots to KU’s 48.6% The Bison went 9 of 32 from 3; KU was 7 of 20.
The Jayhawks, who defeated North Dakota State by just four points at home two seasons ago, seemed intent on avoiding another close game vs. the Bison, a team that lost to Arkansas by 18 points in Monday’s season-opener.
Dick scored eight points, while Yesufu and Rice had six points apiece as KU rolled to a 48-19 halftime lead over the Bison. KU hit 19 of 34 shots (6 of 12 from 3) in the first half.
The Bison attempted to keep pace with the Jayhawks by shooting 3s. However NDSU missed 15 of 20 3-point tries the initial half while making 7 of 28 shots overall, a mark of 25%. KU shot 55.9% in the period.
The Jayhawks had 12 assists on their 19 first-half field goals. Pettiford had five assists, while Harris had two.
KU missed seven of its first 10 shots but still led 9-3 with 15:14 left in the first half. The Bison were 1 of 5 from beyond the arc at that point and 1 of 6 overall. Dick took five of KU’s first 10 shots, hitting two and scoring five of KU’s first nine.
Rice scored four quick points after entering the game with Udeh as the first reserves off the bench. Rice finished a lob from Pettiford as KU upped its early lead to 22-9.
KU increased the lead to 18 points, 29-11, with 7:01 left in the half. At that point Wilson was leading the way with 11 points. NDSU at that point was shooting 4 of 18 and just 3 of 13 from 3.
The lead only grew from there. Yesufu hit a pair of 3s, KJ Adams had a crowd-pleasing lob slam off a feed from Harris and Wilson hit a 3 to give him 14 points as KU led 40-16 with 3:27 left in the first. KU kept up the pressure and led by 29 at the break.
