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No. 17 Kansas thrashes North Dakota

Dec 31, 2011 - 11:40 PM Lawrence, KS (Sports Network) - Thomas Robinson turned in an absolutely dominant performance on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

The junior forward dropped 30 points on 10-of-14 from the floor and ripped down 21 rebounds -- eight on the offensive end of the court -- to go with four assists and a pair of steals as the 17th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks thrashed the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, 84-58.

Tyshawn Taylor finished with 18 points and five assists, while Travis Releford scored 14 points and grabbed seven boards for the Jayhawks (10-3), who have won three straight since losing to Davidson on December 19. Elijah Johnson contributed 11 points and seven assists.

Troy Huff paced the Fighting Sioux (5-8) with 16 points, while Aaron Anderson scored 11. North Dakota has lost three straight and six of its last seven.

North Dakota kept it close early, trailing by only four, 9-5, seven minutes into the opening half, but Kansas then began to put some distance between themselves and the Fighting Sioux

The Jayhwaks used a 17-7 burst to expand their lead to 26-12 with 5:17 to go in the first half. A three-pointer by Spencer Goodman halted the run to make it 26-15 in favor of the Jayhawks with 4:42 left in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Kansas then outscored North Dakota 15-9 to close out the first half, taking a 37-21 lead into the locker room.

The Jayhawks shot 48 percent from the floor and 4-of-13 from beyond the arc in the first half, while North Dakota shot 30 percent from the floor and 2-of-7 from three-point range.

Kansas opened the second half with an 18-9 run to balloon its already comfortable lead to 25, 55-30 with 14:58 to play.

A pair of free throws by Robinson with 4 1/2 minutes left matched Kansas' largest lead of the day at 29, 80-51. They coasted the rest of the way for an easy victory.

Kansas shot 49 percent in the second half, en route to outscoring the Fighting Sioux, 47-37 in the latter 20 minutes of play.

Game Notes

Kansas has won all three of its all-time meetings with North Dakota...Kansas' Connor Teahan finished with nine points, three rebounds and three assists...The Jayhawks shot 48 percent from the floor and 22 percent from beyond the arc, while North Dakota shot 40 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range...Kansas dominated on the glass, outrebounding North Dakota 42-29...Kansas struggled from the line, hitting only 18-of-31 free throw attempts.