Jayhawks ride new starting lineup to 95-57 victory

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self wasn’t kidding Wednesday when he said he might alter KU’s starting lineup because of lack of production from bigs Carlton Bragg and Landen Lucas.

Selfdid indeed replace the frontcourt duo with Udoka Azubuike and Lagerald Vick, and the Jayhawks rolled to a 95-57 victory over North Carolina-Asheville on Friday night in Allen Fieldhouse.

Azubuike scored a career-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting (seven on dunks), grabbed three rebounds and blocked three shots. Vick tallied 15 points with nine boards, both career highs.

Lucas and Bragg, who again picked up two early fouls in coming off the bench the first time this season, scored six and four points, respectively.

Devonté Graham dished out a career-best 11 assists to go with six points and six rebounds. Frank Mason tallied 21 points (5-of-5 on three-pointers) with five rebounds and five assists, while Josh Jackson had 14 points and a career high seven assists.

Azubuike had five dunks and scored 11 points in 14 first-half minutes as KU rolled to a 47-21 halftime lead.

Vick also was effective in the initial half, with seven points and five boards in 15 minutes.

Mason hit three threes and Azubuike had four dunks in a 33-9 run to close the first half and bust open a 14-12 game.

Vick had two points and a rebound and Azubuike a block and three points out of the gate as KU, which was playing its fourth game in eight days, grabbed a 10-7 lead before the two starters took their first rest at 14:44.

Friday’s victory hiked Self’s record as a coach to 597-189. He is 390-84 at KU. The Jayhawks are 746-109 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse, 208-9 under Self.

KU (5-1) will next meet Long Beach State at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 9:05 PM with the headline "Jayhawks ride new starting lineup to 95-57 victory."