Kansas beats Holy Cross 92-59

For nearly a month, Brannen Greene’s mouth and stubborn nature earned him a seat on the sideline. This was his existence. He missed a trip to the Maui Invitational and the championship that followed. He was relegated to practice player status as Kansas won five straight games and ascended to No. 2 in the polls.

The official reason for Greene’s suspension, according to Kansas coach Bill Self, was “conduct detrimental to the team,” a bit of coded coach speak that revealed a partial truth. The conduct in question included a locker room blowup after the Jayhawks’ loss to Michigan State at the Champions Classic and a host of other minor transgressions that Self has declined to discuss.

So for more than three weeks, Greene had no choice but to sit, his near-perfect three-point stroke holstered for five games. On Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, Self decided that Greene had served enough time on the sideline. As Kansas handled Holy Cross 92-59 in an offense-centric shootout, Greene drilled his first two three-pointers and finished with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

“It definitely felt good to get back on the court,” said Greene, a junior wing. “After practice yesterday, Coach (Self) pulled me to the side and we had a talk. He said he would allow me to suit up. I really didn’t know how many minutes I would play or whatnot. I just knew I would play.”

Greene’s output was part of a balanced and efficient offensive attack. The Jayhawks drilled 17 of their first 22 shots from the field and eight of their first 10 three-pointers in the first half. They finished 12 of 20 from behind the arc, and junior guard Wayne Selden led six Jayhawks in double figures with a team-high 15 points.

“We were fine,” Self said. “We made shots.”

On the whole, Self was perhaps a little blasé about the performance. The Jayhawks allowed Holy Cross to shoot better than 50 percent from the field for much of the night. Kansas also had nine turnovers while taking a 50-33 lead at halftime. But Kansas (7-1) buckled down in the latter stretches of the second half, cruising to a sixth straight victory.

The Jayhawks were playing without senior forward Jamari Traylor (ankle) and junior big man Landen Lucas (big toe). Self said that both players were hobbled, though it’s likely both could have played if necessary. The absence of Traylor and Lucas offered a starting opportunity for senior forward Hunter Mickelson, who made the first start of his Kansas career.

Mickelson spent most of the night in foul trouble, but freshman big man Cheick Diallo played extended minutes, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.

“It’s a good passing team,” Holy Cross coach Bill Carmody said. “There doesn’t seem to be any greedy guys out there.”

For Kansas, though, the night mostly offered a glimpse at what this Kansas offense can look like with Greene operating at full capacity. When Greene is on, there are few players in college basketball who can match his outside shooting stroke. It is pure. His release is high. It usually goes in. But for three seasons, of course, Greene has been a perpetual inhabitant of of Self’s dog house, always finding some small reason to antagonize Self.

On Wednesday, the Jayhawks received the good version of Greene — he drilled 3 of 4 from deep — and Self had to like what he saw. Here was another weapon in the backcourt. Here was instant offense off the bench. The Jayhawks will now have two days off before returning to action on Saturday against Oregon State the Sprint Center.

More importantly: They once again have Greene in the fold.

“He can just really shoot the ball,” Self said. “He did some good things obviously. I thought he played really, really well.”

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Kansas beats Holy Cross 92-59."