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Kansas stays perfect with rout of Iowa State

Jan 24, 2008 - 5:05 AM LAWRENCE, Kansas (Ticker) -- After a closer call than usual in its last game, Kansas returned home and routed yet another opponent.

Darnell Jackson scored 21 points and Darrell Arthur added 16 as the second-ranked Jayhawks rolled to an 83-59 victory over Iowa State in a Big 12 Conference matchup on Wednesday.

The Jayhawks (19-0, 4-0 Big 12) were coming off a 76-70 win over Missouri on Saturday. Kansas had an average victory margin of 25.5 points in its first 17 games of the season.

One of two unbeaten teams in the country along with No. 1 Memphis, Kansas is off to its best start since the 1996-97 team began a school-record 22-0.

"We were pretty good defensively. We rebounded the ball, took care of the ball, and shot our free throws decent," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I thought we played pretty well for the most part."

A senior forward, Jackson added 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. He scored six of his points in a 15-5 run midway through the second half that gave the Jayhawks a 64-41 lead.

"I knew he was going to be really special for us this year," Arthur said of Jackson. "This summer he was working out, and working out really hard. When I was hurt (this summer) and watching him work out, I knew he was going to have a big impact for us this year."

The Cyclones had won five of their previous six games and nine of 11, but clearly were up against their toughest test of the season. The Jayhawks have now won five straight and 12 of the last 14 games in the series.

Russell Robinson and Brandon Rush each scored 11 points and Mario Chalmers had 10 for Kansas. Rush also added a career-high six assists.

"They have so many weapons. There is not really one person in their lineup that you can leave to provide some help on somebody else," Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said. "And they are unselfish enough that if you choose to do that, they are going to find the hole in your defense and make you pay for it.

"That's a credit to the guys for their unselfish play and a credit to Coach Self and his staff for getting that group of talented players to play in such an unselfish manner."

Sophomore guard Wesley Johnson, coming off a career-high 24 points in Saturday's 73-66 home victory over Oklahoma State, led the Cyclones with 21 points.

Craig Brackins had 13 points for Iowa State (12-7, 2-2), which was outrebounded by a 46-33 margin and outscored in the paint, 42-16.

Jackson and Arthur combined to score 19 of Kansas' 42 first-half points. The duo was a combined 8-of-12 from the field in the first half as the Jayhawks opened up a 42-32 at the break.

"They have so many weapons. If you take one player, you have to worry about another," Brackins said. "We tried to go out there and guard, but then the big men killed us."