Oregon rally doesn't faze Jayhawks.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Oregon had outscored Kansas 11-0. The Ducks had the deficit down to two points.

Could they possibly ... no, they couldn't.

Kansas answered with a 21-5 run of its own, and the fifth-ranked Jayhawks weren't about to be caught a second time Saturday as they turned back Oregon 77-67 before 14,158 in Kemper Arena.

`We took a couple of tough shots, we didn't block out on the boards and they made us pay,' UO men's basketball coach Ernie Kent said. `If we're playing them in Portland or at McArthur Court, maybe we hit the tough shots or we make the plays.'

Here, it was Kansas doing that, in a building not quite its home in Lawrence but still a site where it's now won 24 straight times. And these are the Jayhawks, once beaten but still considered one of the nation's elite teams, even with an injured starter out and a top reserve suspended.

No matter. Wayne Simien ruled inside with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and freshman J.R. Giddens looked like the recruit he was touted to be with 18 points, including 4-of-8 three-pointers. Aaron Miles, the point guard from Portland, had another 16 and Keith Langford added 15 points.

It would have taken a very good performance by the Ducks to beat Kansas, and Oregon certainly didn't provide that.

The Ducks shot .350 from the field, a season low, and only made 6-of-29 three-point shots, also a season low.

`Their length (of reach) bothered us and the way they ran at us on threes,' Kent said. `And we did not use our shot fakes very well.'

The turnovers were reasonable, at 16, but as untimely as they could have been - three in the early minutes when the Ducks fell into a 10-point hole, four more during the fateful run by the Jayhawks.

`Give Kansas a lot of credit,' Oregon's Luke Jackson said. `They're a good basketball team and they played well.

`We just weren't as effective as we would have liked.'

Certainly, it could have been worse, and it was headed that direction from the opening tip. Oregon had its first foul after 13 seconds, and only two points in the first six minutes. Aaron Brooks had that many fouls by then.

A maintenance worker came along press row carrying a mop for a spill behind the ESPN broadcasters. Somebody should have pointed him to the mess at the Oregon offensive end.

`Kansas is a very good defensive team,' Kent said. `They forced us to go one on one and that is not our forte.

`That's a young team on the road for the first time and facing adversity. You go to a defensive mechanism and try to do it on your own.'

The Ducks missed 10 of their first 11 shots and were 3-of-20 midway through the opening half. Jackson, who again led the Ducks with 27 points, could hardly find an opening for an attempt and the miracle was that Oregon was down only 18-7.

`We just came out a little tight,' Jackson said.

A little? The Ducks had three airballs in their first half-dozen field-goal attempts. They went inside, and long Kansas arms came up with six blocks in the opening 20 minutes. The Ducks fired from the outside, and only Brooks connected on a three-pointer in the first half in 13 Oregon attempts.

`Our defense was awesome,' Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Except, Oregon also missed three of its first four free throws, and at one time was 5-of-11. And a couple of layups were off by more than the distance of the shot. Seriously.

`We did miss some point-blank layups,' Kent said. `We hit those and it's a six- or eight-point game at halftime instead of (38-27). You've got to make your free throws and layups if you're not shooting (outside) ... that can make such a difference.'

There are all the obvious reasons for the early struggle. The Ducks were playing their first road game. They showed they missed Mitch Platt, even with Matt Short playing his first minutes of the season, 16 that resulted in no points but five rebounds.

`The ankle felt fine,' said Short of his recovery from a stress fracture. `There were times I was tired. As the game went on, the length of time I could be on the court kept getting less and less.'

There wasn't much help from the bench, and that ultimately showed after Oregon fought back within 49-47 by scoring 11 consecutive points.

`We made a great run at them playing Oregon basketball,' Kent said.

It just didn't last.

The Jayhawks stemmed the momentum when 6-foot-11 freshman David Padgett willed in a couple of jump hooks, and then it was Miles leading the Jayhawks into transition after three Oregon misses as the lead was restored to 61-49 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.

`When we put it together in the second half, Aaron did everything well,' Self said. The coach looked at a statistical sheet, showing not only the points for Miles but nine rebounds, four assists and no turnovers.

`You're going to win a lot of games when your point guard has a game like that,' Self said. `He was terrific.'

And again, the Ducks weren't. They misfired on shots and made turnovers, and the Jayhawks had things under control at 70-52.

`We were maybe a little tired,' Oregon's Ian Crosswhite said.

`Miles got the ball and pushed it hard and we didn't get back very well. We should have dug deeper.'

Or not had to dig out so far. It was too much to overcome, and so was Kansas.

GAME REPORT: OREGON MEN VS. KANSAS

Notes: Luke Jackson's 27 points give him 1,407 for his career and moves him past Luke Ridnour (1,399) for ninth on the school scoring list. ... Kansas had the advantage nearly everywhere, outscoring the Ducks 28-18 `in the paint,' 18-9 in points off turnovers, 16-9 in second-chance points and 15-5 in fast-break points.

Key Stat: Oregon made only six of its 29 three-point attempts, including 1-of-13 in the first half. That was a season-low .207 percentage on threes.

Next: The Ducks play their final home game of December on Wednesday night against Santa Clara. It is the only home game with reserved seats still on sale, priced at $19. After that, Oregon doesn't play again in McArthur Court until Jan. 15 against Washington, which like the other eight Pac-10 games is listed as sold out.

Kansas 77, Oregon 67

OREGON (67)

Mp Fg Ft R F A To S Tp

Crosswhte ... 30 4-10 4-4 8 3 1 3 0 12

Jackson ... 35 9-14 6-7 8 0 0 2 1 27

Anderson ... 13 1-4 0-2 5 4 0 1 2 2

Brooks ... 32 4-16 2-4 6 4 3 4 0 12

Joseph ... 31 2-8 2-2 5 3 5 2 0 7

Davis ... 21 1-4 2-2 1 0 2 1 0 4

Kent ... 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 1 0 0

Short ... 16 0-0 0-0 5 4 0 1 0 0

Lincoln ... 12 0-2 0-0 1 4 0 1 1 0

Zahn ... 8 0-2 3-4 1 0 1 0 0 3

Totals ... 200 21-60 19-25 43 23 12 16 4 67

Shooting: Field goals 35.0%, 3-point baskets - 6-29 (Crosswhite 0-3, Jackson 3-7, Brooks 2-8, Joseph 1-6, Davis 0-3, Lincoln 0-2). Blocked shots - 3 (Crosswhite 1, Anderson 1, Davis 1). Total rebounds includes three team rebounds.

KANSAS (77)

Mp Fg Ft R F A To S Tp

Giddens ... 30 6-13 2-2 7 5 1 1 1 18

Simien ... 35 7-13 5-8 14 1 0 2 1 19

Padgett ... 13 2-3 0-0 0 4 1 1 0 4

Langford ... 35 5-12 4-6 3 3 4 4 2 15

Miles ... 35 5-13 6-7 9 2 4 0 2 16

Hawkins ... 13 0-4 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0

Wilkes ... 14 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 1 3

Nash ... 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Moody ... 3 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Niang ... 19 0-4 2-4 5 2 1 1 1 2

Totals ... 200 26-65 19-27 41 20 13 9 8 77

Shooting: Field goals 40.0%, 3-point baskets - 6-18 (Giddens 4-8, Langford 1-3, Miles 0-2, Hawkins 0-3, Wilkes 1-1, Nash 0-1). Blocked shots - 7 (Simien 2, Langford 2, Giddens 1, Miles 1, Niang 1). Total rebounds includes one team rebound.

Oregon ... 27 40 - 67

Kansas ... 38 39 - 77

Officials - Tom O'Neill, Bill Kennedy, Ruben Ramos.

Attendance - 14,158.

CAPTION(S):

Kansas guard Keith Langford puts in two of his 15 points for the Jayhawks on Saturday. Langford was one of four Kansas players to finish in double figures. Andre Joseph of Oregon struggles to retain possession against the defense of Kansas guards Keith Langford (left) and J.R. Giddens during the first half of the Jayhawks' win Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.