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Rush, Kansas avenge previous loss to DePaul

Dec 9, 2007 - 12:25 AM LAWRENCE, Kansas (Ticker) -- Brandon Rush and Kansas showed DePaul a swift response to a previous loss.

Rush scored eight of his 13 points in the first half as the third-ranked Jayhawks rolled over the Blue Demons, 84-66, on Saturday.

Last season, Kansas (9-0) absorbed its second early-season setback in eight games at the hands of DePaul, 64-57, on December 2.

Extending their best start since the 2004-05 season, the Jayhawks improved to 8-1 all-time against the Blue Demons.

"We played a pretty complete game today," said Russell Robinson, who had seven points and nine assists. "As well as we played today, they scored 44 points in the second half and we could have cut that down a little bit. There were little breakdowns defensively but offensively we played pretty well."

Rush struggled in that previous meeting, finishing with a career low-tying three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

The junior guard did not start in this one, as coach Bill Self punished Rush for his arrest on Thursday for failing to appear in court on traffic charges.

Yet, the Jayhawks did not blink with one of their top players beginning on the sideline, racing to an 8-2 start behind a pair of baskets from Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur.

Although the Blue Demons (2-3) managed to go ahead at 13-12 on a pair of free throws by Karron Clarke with 10:41 remaining, the Jayhawks responded with a 24-1 run over the next eight-plus minutes.

Rush had eight points during the decisive burst, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Kansas also was strong on the defensive end, collecting five of its 11 steals during the spurt. Mario Chalmers and Robinson had two each.

"We finished the first half great," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I thought we played well until about the last six minutes when it was run, turn it over, run, they turn it over, but I thought our big guys played very, very well and Mario and Russell were the best they've been all year. There were some good things that happened."

While Kansas could not miss, DePaul could not find the basket, finishing with just two field goals over the final 11:12 of the first half as it fell behind 39-22 at the break.

"I think we turned over three straight possessions for either layups or dunks and kind of lost our bearing from there," DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright said. "That's what good teams are capable of; they can ratchet it up and can body punch you really quick and that's what they did. They got out 10 and then got out another 10 and were able to play and run their stuff comfortably throughout the game."

The Blue Demons' leading scorer Draelon Burns failed to score in the first half, coming up short on his four attempts. He finished with 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Burns, who had been coming off consecutive 32-point efforts, credited the Jayhawks for his poor offensive outing.

"They played very good," he said. "Hats off to those guys. Once I would get past one guy, they sent a big guy at me, and then a little guy was jumping in from the side, so I had to pass up a lot of shots or shoot with high arch. I think they switched off so many guys."

Much did not change after intermission as the Jayhawks continued to pour it on. Arthur completed a three-point play and had a layup as Kansas went on a 16-5 run early in the second half, extending the lead to 57-33 with 14:25 left.

Sasha Kaun finished with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Arthur added 13 for the Jayhawks, who shot 52 percent (34-of-65).

Kansas also got guard Sherron Collins back after the sophomore guard missed the previous six games due to a stress fracture in his foot. He played 13 minutes, hitting two 3-pointers en route to six points.

Dar Tucker had 18 points and Clarke added 10 for the Blue Demons, who were held to 39 percent (23-of-59).