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Robinson paces balanced attack as Kansas routs Towson

Nov 12, 2011 - 4:37 AM Lawrence, KS (Sports Network) - Thomas Robinson scored 18 points with 11 rebounds, Travis Releford had 14 points and No. 13 Kansas jumped out to a big halftime lead on the way to beating Towson, 100-54, Friday night.

Kansas led the season opener for both teams by 24 at the break and coasted in the second half to hand Towson its 20th straight loss.

The Jayhawks (1-0) shot nearly 59 percent from the floor and had six scorers finish in double figures. Kevin Young had 13 points, Tyshawn Taylor added 12, Conner Teahan chipped in 11 and Jeff Withey had 10.

Still, head coach Bill Self saw a lot of room for improvement and was upset with his team's 20 fouls.

"The first 10 minutes, we scored like 32 points, and we looked good. The ball was moving, we got easy baskets, had energy, and then like most of the teams we've had here, it's hard to sustain that over 40 minutes and you get a little lull," said Self.

"We didn't finish the (first) half great. Only go in up 24, we should have been up 30 or 35."

The Tigers (0-1) played their first game for former Pittsburgh assistant Pat Skerry, who replaced Pat Kennedy as head coach after Kennedy resigned in March following a 4-26 season.

The game, part of the Maui Invitational, was in hand for the Jayhawks all the way following a 10-1 run to open the first half.

Kansas won its 10th season opener in a row and its 40th straight opener at Allen Fieldhouse dating to the 1973-74 season.

The Jayhawks are coming off an Elite Eight loss to Cinderella VCU in the NCAA Tournament, which ended a season in which they matched the second-most wins (35) in program history.

They won their NCAA-record 54th conference regular season title, too, after going 14-2 in Big 12 play last season.

Towson, which lost its final 19 games last season, was little more than a speedbump as the Jayhawks look forward to a game against current No. 2 Kentucky on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

"If it's possible to be underrated at 13th in the country, I think Kansas is," said Skerry.

Robinson and Releford scored all 10 points in Kansas' two-minute run to open the game and the Jayhawks led by as many as 29 points in the first half when Young's dunk made it 47-18.

They pushed their 53-29 halftime lead to 30 points at 65-35 on Teahan's three- pointer and led by as many as 49 in the final minute.

Game Notes

The teams were meeting for the second time. The Jayhawks defeated the Tigers 87-61 November 19, 2006, at Allen Fieldhouse. That game was the opening round of the Las Vegas Invitational, which Kansas went on to win.