Kansas 91, West Virginia 65, March has arrived and Kansas happens to be streaking. The Jayhawks sailed in transition and flew past West Virginia 91-65 at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday to win for the sixth straight time.
Ben McLemore's 36 points broke the freshman scoring record at Kansas. The 6-foot-5 guard left with 5:21 remaining and the Jayhawks ahead by 24 points after McLemore scored two consecutive buckets. He broke the KU freshman record of 35 points set by Danny Manning on March 2, 1985.
Senior center Jeff Withey almost recorded a triple-double, adding 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks as Kansas improved to 25-4 and remained atop the Big 12 at 13-3.
The loss was the fourth straight for West Virginia (13-16, 6-10), which was led by senior forward Dominique Rutledge's 17 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Eron Harris scored 11 points but hit just 4 of 17 shots as West Virginia made just 32.8 percent (22 of 67).
The Mountaineers never challenged after Kansas closed the first half with a 24-9 run to gain a 45-31 lead. McLemore scored 19 points in the half, going 5 of 7 from the field and 7 of 9 from the foul line.
The Jayhawks buried three 3-pointers -- from Naadir Tharpe, Elijah Johnson and McLemore -- over the final 3:35 to push their lead into double digits.
Three of the Mountaineers were tagged with three fouls apiece. Kansas converted 11 West Virginia fouls into 11 points at the line.
NOTES: Kansas came in leading the nation in 3-point field goal defense (35.5 percent). ... West Virginia became just the sixth team to outrebound Kansas, gaining a 41-36 advantage on the boards. ... Kansas coach Bill Self was presented an honorary ball before the game observing his 500th career win, which he recorded at Iowa State on Feb. 25.
