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Releford leads No, 14 Kansas over Kansas State

Jan 5, 2012 - 6:18 AM Lawrence, KS (Sports Network) - Travis Releford had 16 points and 11 rebounds as No. 14 Kansas took down No. 23 Kansas State, 67-49.

Thomas Robinson scored 15 points and grabbed 14 boards while Tyshawn Taylor added 13 points for the Jayhawks (11-3, 1-0 Big 12), who have won their past four.

"Anytime you can get your in-state rival to get off to a good start in the league, it's a good thing," said Kansas head coach Bill Self. "We know we have to go back over there and we know they will be amped up for us, but we couldn't be better than 1-0 right now so I am pretty pleased."

Rodney McGruder had 15 points and five rebounds while Jamar Samuels added 12 points and five boards for the Wildcats (11-2, 0-1), who had a six-game winning streak stopped.

"I have never in 27 years, including coaching 13-year-olds, been part of a game where our team got its tail whipped in the physical part of the game the way we did today," said Kansas State head coach Frank Martin. "It was a complete mismatch. I told the media folks that were at our place yesterday that 10 minutes into the game, the game would probably be over and that's what happened."

After Samuels hit a free throw for the first point of the game, Robinson hit a jumper and the Jayhawks never trailed from there.

Kansas scored 12 straight points a bit later with Kevin Young's jumper making it a 17-3 game eight minutes in.

The Jayhawks led by as many as 18 in the first half before taking a 35-20 lead into the break.

A 10-0 run in the second half got Kansas State to within three, 39-36, after Samuels -- who scored the final eight points of the run -- hit a three-pointer with 12 1/2 minutes to play.

Kansas, though, went on a 14-3 run a bit later with a Taylor dunk giving the team a 56-41 lead with seven minutes to play.

That proved to be the backbreaker as Kansas State failed to get within single digits the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Kansas plays at Oklahoma on Saturday...The Wildcats host Missouri on Saturday...The Jayhawks have won 43 of the last 46 meetings with the Wildcats and lead the series, 182-91...Kansas shot 45.5 percent and grabbed 50 boards while Kansas State hit 31.6 percent of its shots and hauled down just 26 rebounds.