Jayhawks take down Rider

In the final moments of Kansas’ 87-60 victory over Rider, Wayne Selden jogged to the sideline and headed for the water cooler at the end of the Jayhawks’ bench. He poured a cup of water, leaned against a Gatorade rack, and gazed his eyes back toward the playing floor at Allen Fieldhouse.

At that moment in time, with 3:59 left on the clock, Wayne Selden had zero points on zero of four shooting. And if you said his performance was beautiful, you wouldn’t have been far off.

Selden, a sophomore wing, finished with nine assists in 28 minutes on Monday night, spearheading an offense to its best performance of the season. Six days A.K. — make that “After Kentucky” — the Jayhawks returned to the comfortable confines of Allen Fieldhouse. Six days after the worst offensive performance of the Self era, this was something better.

Junior Perry Ellis and sophomore wing Brannen Greene finished with a team-high 17 points while the Jayhawks shot 59.6 percent from the floor. They finished the night with a season-high 22 assists.

If one is going to compare Kansas’ offensive performance against Rider to the one against Kentucky, you will certainly find some rather stark contrasts. The offensive numbers were so anemic against Kentucky that anything would have looked better on Monday. But the Jayhawks’ first half offered some promise.

Entering Monday night, the Jayhawks had recorded just 15 assists in two games. The Jayhawks matched that in the opening 20 minutes, with Selden matching a career-high seven assists before the halftime horn.

The Jayhawks shot 66.7 percent while building a 51-22 lead, and two of the leading roles were assumed by freshmen. Power forward Cliff Alexander came off the bench and was a perfect four of four from the field, while freshman wing Svi Mykhailiuk dropped 10 points in the half while making his first career start.

Each brought something to the attack. Alexander provided a low-post presence, while Mykhailiuk spread the floor and took on the role of ball-mover on the perimeter. Each was effective.

When the Jayhawks’ offense is lethargic — and the ball is slow to move from Point A to Point B — Self likes to say that the ball is “sticking.” During the Jayhawks’ 32-point loss to Kentucky, you could say that the ball was stuck. Kansas finished that night with just four assists on 11 field goals.

For stretches on Monday night, the ball moved. It was not perfection. But it was coherent offense.

The Jayhawks will return to the floor on Thursday against Rhode Island in the first round of the Orlando Classic.

This story was originally published November 24, 2014 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Jayhawks take down Rider."