Isaiah Moss came off the bench to contribute 17 points, netting four 3-pointers as No. 5 Kansas smothered Stanford 72-56 in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sunday.
Kansas (10-2) recovered from its first road defeat, a 56-55 loss to Villanova on Dec. 21 that caused the Jayhawks to become the fifth team this season to drop from No. 1 in the polls.
Coach Bill Self, after telling the media he was looking to find ways to help Kansas finish games after they blew a late lead against Villanova, watched his team start strong instead.
The Jayhawks held the Cardinal (11-2) without a field goal for almost the first 12 minutes and built a quick lead they never relinquished.
Stanford came in as the Pac-12 leader in scoring defense, allowing 57.7 points on average, and often gave Kansas fits despite the Jayhawks' 81.9-point average that ranked first among Big 12 teams.
Sophomore point guard Devon Dotson, the Big 12's leading scorer at 19.2 points per game, started slowly but managed 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Senior center Udoka Azubuike, the nation's leader in field-goal percentage (80.5), was only 1 of 2 from the floor and did not score until 2:27 remained, though he grabbed 13 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Ochai Agbaji and junior guard Marcus Garrett added 14 and 12 points, respectively, in the Jayhawks' last game before Big 12 play. The Jayhawks became the first team to score at least 70 points against Stanford.
The Cardinal, off to their best start since 2008, missed their first 14 shots and did not connect until the 8:08 mark of the first half.
Stanford shot just 38.0 percent and was led by junior forward Oscar da Silva with a game-high 19 points. Freshman guard Tyrell Terry added 10.
The Cardinal ended a lengthy scoring drought to start the game on two free throws by da Silva with 12:11 remaining.
The Jayhawks raced to a 15-2 lead before Isaac White's icebreaker, but committed 14 first-half turnovers. Kansas led 28-18 at the break after gaining an early 16-point lead.
--Field Level Media
Kansas | Stanford | |
Isaiah Moss 17 | Scoring | Oscar Da Silva 19 |
Marcus Garrett 4 | Assists | Daejon Davis 3 |
Udoka Azubuike 13 | Rebounds | Oscar Da Silva 4 |
Devon Dotson 4 | Free Throws Made | Oscar Da Silva 8 |
Devon Dotson 4 | Steals | Bryce Wills 3 |
Marcus Garrett 1 | Blocks | Daejon Davis 1 |