As Kansas began its run in the NCAA Tournament, it did what it does best: run. And leading the charge was Remy Martin, who was a maestro with his passing and effective with his scoring on the way to a 83-56 first-round victory over Texas Southern.
Whether it was jitters or nerves, the Jayhawks passed up open shots and turned the ball over, starting 0-3 from the field. Ochai Agbaji got hot early as Kansas opened up a 14-7 lead. Texas Southern stayed within striking distance at 17-10 at the under-12 timeout and then…Remy happened.
First it was a great bounce pass to David McCormack for a dunk. Then a steal and dunk of his own. A drive, jumper, more no-look bounce passes for assists and Kansas was in fourth gear and couldn’t be stopped. Over the course of six minutes, the Jayhawks went on an 18-2 run to lead 37-16 and by that point, Martin had nine points on 4-4 shooting and three assists.
The other offensive juggernaut for KU in the first half was Dajuan Harris, who had 12 points on 5-5 shooting, including 2-2 from 3. To make matters worse for Texas Southern, the half ended with a missed Zach Clemence free throw being corralled by Jalen Coleman-Lands, saving it before it went out of bounds, spinning on a dime, and draining a 3 to make the halftime score 47-19.
The game might have been locked up, but Kansas still made the second half entertaining with dunks by McCormack and Agbaji. McCormack was everywhere in the second half, drawing fouls, throwing down dunks, and grabbing rebounds on his way to nine points and seven rebounds.
The offense got sloppy midway through the second half as Clemence jacked up 3s he wouldn’t get away with in any other situation and Texas Southern took advantage of playing the bench on offense, cutting the lead to 66-43 and forcing Bill Self to put his starters back in the game. The Jayhawks immediately righted the ship, going on a 7-2 run and extending the lead back to 28.
The Jayhawks got bigger second-half offensive performances from Agbaji, Braun, and Jalen Wilson, who all finished in double figures. Braun finished with 14 points while shooting 4-5 from 3, and Agbaji and Wilson both chipped in 11. But it was the point guard position and Martin and Harris’ 15 and 12 points respectively that led the way. As a team, KU shot 50% from the field and 47.8% from 3 (11-23), while holding Texas Southern to 34% shooting from the field.
With Creighton’s overtime win over San Diego State, Kansas will meet the Blue Jays for a second-round showdown on Saturday. The game is scheduled to tip at 1:40pm Central (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the North Carolina-Baylor game) and will air on CBS.
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