Live Blog: Men's Basketball at No. 13 Kansas

SECOND HALF

FINAL: Kansas 78, Kent State 72

Poor shooting in the second half did in the Flashes, but they found a few highlights late as 7-foot-4 Blake Vedder drilled a 3-pointer and a 15-footer on the left baseline. V

edder gave the 3-point hand signal putting them into imaginary holsters as he ran to the other end. That'll be a great memory for the senior, hitting a long three in a legendary venue like Phog Allen Fieldhouse.

Good to see freshman Raasean Davis add a layup in the closing minute.

Jimmy Hall's 13 points and 8 rebounds led KSU.

Oubre led Kansas with 20.

3:25 ... An ugly stretch with some forced shots and careless turnovers have led to a Kansas run that has this one heading to the Jayhawks win column.

The Kansas lead is 72-53.

The Flashes are getting clobbered on the boards 40-27. That was the biggest key to the game according to Senderoff prior to the game.

Kent State has shot just 6-of-24 from the field this half compared to Kansas' 12-of-18.

Oubre has cooled off for the Jayhawks. After a 6-for-6 first half, he is 2-for-6 after the break. He still leads everyone with 20 points.

Jimmy Hall has also cooled off. The Flashes forward is 0-for-5 in the second half and has a team-high 13 points. Khaliq Spicer has 11 and Brewer has 10 for the Flashes.

Derek Jackson has 8 assists and six rebounds, but just 5 points on 2-of-10 shooting.

7:36 ... Khaliq Spicer missed a one-handed dunk, but came right back and slammed home a 2-handed alley oop from Derek Jacskon. The Flashes trail 60-49, however.

Rebounding is killing the Flashes. They trail in the rebound battle 37-27 after holding an early 13-11 advantage in that category. The Jayhawks have a 17-12 advantage in second-chance points.

9:18 ... A Manley three has helped Kent State cut what was a 17-point deficit down to nine at 56-47.

Manley has also forced two Kansas turnovers during this run.

11:38 ... Defense helped Kent State stay in this one for a bit while as the shooting was ice cold.

But over the last few minutes the defensive effort has slipped. A few lazy fouls have helped the Jayhawks extend the lead to 54-39, but Derek Jackson will have a chance to complete a three-point play from the line coming out of this timeout.

Prior to the Jackson layup, which came on a nice find from Jimmy Hall, the Flashes were 1-for-12 to start the second half.

Foul shooting continues to be an issue for the Flashes. They are 3-for-9 from the line. Khaliq Spicer is 1-for-5 from from the foul line.

15:19 ... Deficit for Kent State is now 47-35 as the Golden Flashes have gone ice cold from the field.

Khaliq Spicer ended his team's 0-for-7 start with a jump hook on a deep touch in the lane. Since then, the Flashes have missed two more.

Jimmy Hall is on the bench with 3 fouls.

Devareaux Manley is also struggling. The 26th-ranked three-point shooter in the nation is 1-for-6 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Derek Jackson is 0-for-5. The Flashes need that duo to heat up.

The Flashes were up 13-11 on the boards earlier in the night. They now trail 31-11.

17:41 ... A tough start to the second half for Kent State. 

The Flashes find themselves down 44-33 after a 5-0 Jayhawks run. Kent State hasn't hit a field goal since the 1:17 mark of the first half.

To make matters worse, Jimmy Hall has his third foul. I'm not sure that Kent State can afford to take him out of the game, however. 

Oubre finally missed. But after missing that three, hit dropped in a fast break layup for the final point before Kent State took this timeout.

FIRST HALF

Oubre's 16 on 6-of-6 shooting is the only reason Kansas has a lead in this one. The rest of the Jayhawks are 10-for-30 from the floor.

Jimmy Hall has 12 and Kris Brewer has 8 to lead the Flashes, who are shooting 14-for-18 from the field.

3:35 ... An Oubre-led run has helped Kansas back into the lead at 32-28. He now has 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including 4-of-4 from three-point range.

To make matters worse, the freshman has been just as good on the defensive end. Oubre's long arms have crowded Devareaux Manley, keeping the 26th-best three-point shooter in the country from getting a look. Manley is just 0-for-1 on the night.

5:48 ... Jimmy Hall just picked up his second foul fighting for a rebound on a badly missed three by Greene of Kansas.

Hate to take Jimmy out of this game with the way he is dominating on the other end of the floor. He has 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Without Oubre, Kansas would be in trouble. He has 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting. The rest of the team is 6-for-17 from the field.

Both teams struggling from the line. Kent State 1-for-4. Kansas is 4-for-7.

11:36 ... Kent State has battled back to take an 18-16 lead into the second media timeout.

Kris Brewer had back-to-back threes during this stretch, his second set up by his own steal after racing back to defend in transition.

Chris Ortiz led the Flashes out of the first break with five quick points, including a three from the left wing.

The Flashes are 7-for-14 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Kansas is 6-of-11 (3-of-5 from 3) with Oubre adding another three pointer. He is 3-for-3 from the arc and has 11 quick points.

15:31 ... At the first media timeout, Kansas holds a 10-5 lead thanks to two threes from the left wing by Kelly Oubre Jr. 

Oubre is already 3-for-3 for 8 of his team's 10 points, but he also has two early fouls.

Jimmy Hall has been good early for Kent State with four points – two coming on a pretty jump hook in the lane and two more on an offensive rebound and stick-back of a Kris Brewer missed layup.

Hall is on the bench after an early foul.

PREGAME

6:51 p.m. ... The fans were lined up around the block outside The Phog when our team bus pulled up.

With students on break, Kansas sold student tickets as general admission seats. For many local fans, this is a rare opportunity to see the Jayhawks play in person.

Fans stream into The Phog an hour and a half early

I was just talking with an usher, and he said the cheapest seat here is $70. It'll be sold out as usual, and with some rabid fans in the house for the only time this season, the game will have the typical turned-up-to-11 volume.

The Golden Flashes are in their gold while Kansas will be wearing their alternate gray uniforms with a faded pinstripe.

4:45 p.m. ... The final film session of this trip and pre-game meal just concluded at the team hotel.

The coaches have been hammering home some keys to this game over the last two days. Rebouinding is going to be as important as ever as the Jayhawks are one of the best offensive rebounding team in the country. At 39 percent, they rank 20th in the country in that area, so getting a body on someone and keeping the Jayhawks from gaining a big advantage through second-chance points is as important as anything tonight.

Free throws are also a big issue. We all know that Kent State has struggled from the foul line this season. Just as important tonight is how much of an advantage Kansas has given itself this season at the line. Through 11 games, the Jayhawks are scoring 27 percent of its points from the foul line. That ranks 8th in the country.

Kent State has to find a way to defend without fouling.

The Flashes have done a great job this season of forcing teams to shoot contested shots from inside the three-point line. They'll want to continue that as the Jayhawks rank 34th in the nation in 3-point shooting at 39 percent compared to just 43 percent from inside the arc, which ranks 300th in the country.

Derek Jackson will draw one of two key assignments tonight while guarding Kansas lead guard Frank Mason III. While Mason loves to score in transition, he is also extremely dangerous from beyond the arc, where is shooting 55.2 percent. He doesn't take many threes, but one he does, he hits them.

Kansas leading scorer Perry Ellis will be guarded by Jimmy Hall. While the 6-foot-8 Ellis is averaging 12.5 per game, he is shooting at only a 40.6-percent clip. The Flashes need to keep him from sealing the post or getting out in transition to find easy shots. 

The Jayhawks are young, starting a senior-free lineup that includes a sophomores in Mason and fellow guard Wayne Selden Junior, juniors in forwards Ellis and Kelly Oubre, and a freshman in 6-8 center Cliff Alexander. They don't have a senior off the bench.

Normally, I'd like a matchup like this for Kent State with veterans at the guard position and length to go up against some young Kansas posts. It would have been nice to avoid catching the Jayhawks on a night when they were not coming off a 20-point loss at Temple, however. I'm sure Bill Self will have his team refocused and ready. But I still like this one to be close. 

3:45 p.m. ... It has been a fun trip so far.

After Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University, Allen Fieldhouse is my favorite venue in all of college basketball. 

We have already been to "The Phog" twice, with a third trip coming in just a minutes as the Golden Flashes will take on the No. 13 Kansas Jayhawks at 8 p.m EST. After our arrival last night, the team practiced at the Jayhawks' impressive practice facility. Offices with balconies for the Kansas coaches overlook the facility. Behind one basket, a large chunk of the floor from the 2008 Final Four in San Antonio is mounted to the wall. That was the year Kansas last won the national title.

The Kansas women's team played Samford last night on the fieldhouse floor, which meant the team had to use the practice facility. But we were out on the main floor this morning for shootaround. In case you missed it, head coach Rob Senderoff previewed tonight's game in a video blog on the Kent State Men's Basketball Blog site earlier today.

We have a big group of boosters on the trip with us. One of them, rabid fan Bob Milliken, recorded a guest video blog from courtside during the shootaround. If you are reading this on the main page of the Press Box Blog, you can see that video below.

The team bus leaves for Allen Fieldhouse a little after 5 p.m. local time.