Jayhawk report: No. 10 Kansas 75, New Mexico State 56
Friday’s box score
No. 10 Kansas 75,
New Mexico St. 56
NEW MEXICO ST. | Min | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | PF | PT |
Barry | 35 | 4-13 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
Baker | 24 | 1-10 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Nephawe | 32 | 3-8 | 4-6 | 6-8 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
Mullings | 35 | 3-8 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
Siakam | 34 | 2-6 | 4-6 | 2-8 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
Landry | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Eldridge | 19 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
Huggins | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taylor | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wilkins | 11 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Bhullar | 6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Pennie | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 20-56 | 11-16 | 14-29 | 8 | 15 | 56 |
Percentages: FG .357, FT .688. 3-Point Goals: 5-15, .333 (Eldridge 3-5, Barry 2-6, Baker 0-4). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 3 (Siakam 2, Barry). Turnovers: 11 (Nephawe 4, Eldridge 2, Siakam 2, Baker 2, Mullings). Steals: 10 (Mullings 5, Baker 3, Eldridge, Nephawe). Technical Fouls: None.
KANSAS | Min | FG-A | FT-A | OR-TR | A | PF | PT |
Mason III | 31 | 6-7 | 3-4 | 2-9 | 4 | 0 | 17 |
Selden Jr | 20 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
Oubre Jr | 22 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
Lucas | 26 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 4-9 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
Ellis | 23 | 4-10 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
Graham | 25 | 2-6 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
Manning | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Mykhailiuk | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Self | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Greene | 19 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Garrett | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pollard | 1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Traylor | 27 | 3-5 | 2-3 | 1-5 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
Mickelson | 2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Totals | 200 | 27-50 | 12-15 | 10-36 | 16 | 17 | 75 |
Percentages: FG .540, FT .800. 3-Point Goals: 9-13, .692 (Mason III 2-2, Graham 2-2, Oubre Jr. 2-3, Greene 2-4, Ellis 1-1, Selden Jr. 0-1). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 3 (Traylor, Ellis, Mickelson). Turnovers: 14 (Graham 3, Ellis 2, Oubre Jr. 2, Selden Jr. 2, Traylor 2, Mason III 2, Lucas). Steals: 7 (Mason III 2, Lucas, Oubre Jr., Greene, Traylor, Ellis). Technical Fouls: None.
New Mexico St. | 23 | 33 | — | 56 |
Kansas | 36 | 39 | — | 75 |
A—NA. Officials—Tony Padilla, Gregory Nixon, Deron White.
Ellis mending
Playing his third game since returning from a knee sprain, Perry Ellis displayed more mobility against New Mexico State than he did last weekend at the Big 12 Tournament. But Kansas coach Bill Self still believes Ellis is capable of more.
“He's shown no indication of it bothering him during practice the last three days and that kind of stuff,” Self said. “He just doesn't have the same explosiveness, the same bounce. To me, he looked a little tentative out there — very tentative.”
Ellis finished with nine points and two rebounds against New Mexico State. But All nine points came during the first half. Ellis, who missed a dunk in the early minutes of the game, sat on the bench for a long stretch during the first 10 minutes of the second half. He played just 23 minutes.
“It felt great out there,” Ellis said. “This is all just a process. I’m almost there, I feel like, mentally. I feel like maybe I’m kind of hesitant. I feel like maybe I could have been more aggressive, but it felt great out there.”
Ellis, a native of Wichita, will have one day to rest before facing Wichita State, his hometown school.
“I love Wichita,” Ellis said, before the Shockers beat Indiana. “I respect the program and everything. It would mean a lot, just being from Wichita and getting to the play them.”
Greene heats up
The Jayhawks made 9 of 13 from three on Friday, but no Kansas player was happier to see the ball go in the basket than sophomore wing Brannen Greene.
After hitting 3 of 27 from three-point range over his last eight games, Greene made 2 of 4 from deep against New Mexico State.
“To see the lid go off was definitely good for me,” Greene said. “And also to hear it from my teammates and things like that. It was good.”
Greene has shuffled between scorching hot and ice cold this season. During the first part of the Big 12 season, he was shooting better than 60 percent from three-point range in conference — and flirting with Kansas’ single-season record of 50.5 percent. Then he hit a slump.
Knowing Brannen, it’s all mental,” Self joked, before turning serious. “Brannen — he needed to see the ball go in the hole.”
Worth noting
▪ Kansas improved to 97-42 in the NCAA Tournament and 5-0 here in Omaha. The Jayhawks are 20-2 when leading at halftime and 14-0 when the bench scores more than 25 points.
“We ran into the real Kansas Jayhawks tonight,” New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies said.
Rustin Dodd
This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 8:36 PM with the headline "Jayhawk report: No. 10 Kansas 75, New Mexico State 56."