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Kansas Relies On Fast Finish

Associated Press

Top 25

Raef LaFrentz scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half Thursday night as third-ranked Kansas overcame a slow start to beat Florida 69-54 at Gainesville, Fla., for its fifth straight victory.

Scot Pollard, from Kennewick’s Kamiakin High School, also had a strong second half, scoring 10 of his 12 points to help the Jayhawks (12-1) pull away from a six-point halftime lead despite not getting any points from Jerod Haase, their second-leading scorer, for nearly 29 minutes.

Dametri Hill led Florida (5-7) with 21 points.

The loss was the third straight for Florida, which finished the most demanding non-conference schedule in school history, has faced four ranked opponents, including three Top 10 teams.

Kansas led 25-21 at the half despite shooting just 38 percent from the field. The Jayhawks made up for the poor marksmanship on the defensive end, forcing nine turnovers and holding Florida to 28 percent shooting.

(4) Cincinnati 75, Southern Miss 70

At Hattiesburg, Miss., Danny Fortson scored 34 points, including four free throws in the final 40 seconds, as the Bearcats (10-0, 2-0 Conference USA) held off the Golden Eagles (7-6, 1-1) to remain undefeated.

Cincinnati scored the last eight points, including Darnell Burton’s putback with 57.3 seconds left that put the Bearcats in front for good at 71-70. Forston then hit four free throws.

(9) Memphis 74, DePaul 55

At Memphis, Tenn., Lorenzen Wright had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Mingo Johnson added 21 points as the Tigers (10-2, 2-0 Conference USA) defeated the Blue Demons (7-6, 0-2) to run their home unbeaten streak to 27 games.

Wright shot 10 of 14 from the field.

(20) Penn State 76, Minnesota 61

At State College, Pa., Calvin Booth scored 17 points and the undefeated Nittany Lions (12-0, 3-0 Big Ten) beat the Gophers (9-6, 2-2) in the inaugural game at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State, off to the best start in school history and ranked for the first time since 1965, moved to the new arena after 67 years in 6,846-seat Rec Hall.