LAWRENCE, Kan. — One week after crushing rival Missouri by 28 points on the road, the No. 8-ranked Kansas Jayhawks rolled to an early 22-point lead over No. 14 Indiana on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse in KU’s featured home game of the 2022-23 nonconference season.
The Hoosiers never gave up, slicing the gap to 15 points at halftime and 10 points in the final half.
However, the Jayhawks (10-1), who were led by Gradey Dick (20 points, six rebounds, five steals), Jalen Wilson, KJ Adams and Kevin McCullar (11 points apiece) and Dajuan Harris (10 points, 10 assists, three steals) more than steadied the ship en route to a 84-62 victory over IU (8-3) of the Big Ten Conference.
Zuby Ejiofor came off the bench to score eight points while Bobby Pettiford had 10 more for the Jayhawks, who won their 12th consecutive game at Allen and improved to 6-0 at home so far this campaign.
Indiana was led by shot-blocking machine Trayce Jackson-Davis. He scored 13 points but more importantly had nine blocked shots, which was believed to be most by a KU opponent in history. Mo Bamba of Texas, Jordan Bell of Oregon and Shane Battier of Duke had eight blocks versus KU.
KU, which hit 51.5% of its shots (7 of 16 threes) improved to 2-2 all-time against IU in Allen and 7-8 overall in the all-time series. The squads will complete a home-and-home series Dec. 16, 2023, at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. Indiana hit 37.7% of its shots and was 6 of 19 from 3.
Jalen Hood-Schifino, who played for the first time in four games, had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Hoosiers (8-3), who have lost two straight games and three of four.
KU, which beat Missouri 95-67 last Saturday on the road, improved to 298-16 at home during the 20-year Bill Self era.
In the first half, Dick scored 13 points, Wilson had nine and Adams added seven as KU led 44-29 at the break.
KU hit 17 of 28 shots, 60.7%, in the half. The Jayhawks were 5 of 9 from 3 and 5 of 5 from the line.
Indiana was led in the half by Hood-Schifino, who had eight points and four assists. Preseason All-American Jackson-Davis had six points in the half, all in the last 2:31.
Indiana hit 10 of 30 shots the first half for 33.3%. The Hoosiers were 5 of 14 from 3 and 4 of 4 from the line.
The Hoosiers outscored KU 9-4 to open the second half and it was a 10-point game (48-38) at 16:06.
Harris helped open it back to 18 points (58-40) with 12:09 left. He scored six of KU’s 10 points in a 10-2 run.
Adams scored the first seven points of the game as KU rolled to a 7-0 lead at 17:32 and 12-2 lead at 16:14. KU’s 12th point came on a play in which the Jayhawks shared the ball to perfection, Wilson passed to Adams who passed to Harris over to McCullar for the layup.
KU upped its lead to 16-5 on a dunk by Dick off a feed from Harris. The lead increased to 21-8 on a 3 by Dick at 12:51. KU led 23-9 on a bucket by Ejiofor off a feed from Harris at 10:07. KU also led 28-14 at 7:51 on a tip by Ejiofor.
Harris, who had four assists at that point, picked up his second foul with 9:13 left in the first half.
KU went on an impressive 6-0 surge and led 34-17. Pettiford hit a pair of driving layups and Dick dunked off a steal in the run.
The lead reached 22 points (42-20) with 2:31 left in the half on a third bucket by Pettiford.
KU will next meet Harvard at 6 p.m. Thursday at Allen. After that, KU will break for Christmas, returning to Lawrence Dec. 26 to begin preparation for the Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State on New Year’s Eve.
