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Chalmers, Kansas roll past red-hot Boston College

Dec 23, 2006 - 11:11 PM LAWRENCE, Kansas (Ticker) -- Mario Chalmers and Kansas gave Boston College a sobering dose of reality.

Chalmers scored 22 points as the 12th-ranked Jayhawks cruised to an 84-66 triumph over Boston College, which had a six-game winning streak snapped.

It was the fourth straight victory for Kansas (10-2), which had struggled somewhat this season against lesser opponents.

But the Jayhawks stormed to an early lead Saturday and never looked back, owning a 43-34 edge on the glass while limiting the Eagles to 40 percent (22-for-54) shooting.

"I thought we didn't do a great job of dictating pace, but I thought we did a pretty good job," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I thought our pressure was good early, and they didn't get a lot of good looks."

Chalmers was the driving force, shooting 9-of-16 from the floor, dishing out four assists and collecting five steals.

"I thought it was Mario's best game (of the season)," Self said. "I thought Mario was great. He got the ball where we needed to get it."

Boston College pulled within 21-19 on Jared Dudley's three-point play with 8:15 left in the first half. However, Kansas took over from there, closing the half on a 24-4 run.

"We made them earn their points, and they went cold," Self said. "We rebounded the ball very well in the first half. We got out and scored in transition; that was part of the scouting report."

"We didn't handle the ball like we should and we let it get away from us," Eagles coach Al Skinner said. "We didn't execute like we needed to on offense. They had a lot of transition baskets and it made them feel very comfortable and got into a tremendous flow."

Brandon Rush scored 15 points while fellow sophomore Julian Wright chipped in 13 and 12 rebounds for Kansas, which forced 22 turnovers.

Rush believed Kansas' new zone defense was the reason behind Boston College's offensive struggles.

"We have been practicing the zone the whole break, and I think we ran it pretty well today," he said. "We committed too many fouls early, and coach was trying to save us, so he put in the zone and it turned out pretty good."

Sean Williams had 19 points and 15 rebounds to pace the Eagles (7-3), who shot just 4-of-19 from the arc.

"If we learned nothing else, it's that we have to handle the ball better," Skinner said. "Normally, we are a pretty good ballhandling team. I thought there were times when we were careless. If you are going to win games on the road, you can't play this way."