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LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self told his team at the half they could have just as easily been down five points rather than up by that margin.
His locker room message: sharpen it up, Jayhawks. They did and pulled away from Texas Tech to win 73-51 on Tuesday night.
"When Tech labors, they go through scoring droughts," he said. "Our whole deal was just to try not to let them have easy baskets and make them earn them and for the most part we did a decent job with that."
Wayne Selden Jr. scored 16 points and No. 8 Kansas shot well from 3-point range.
The Jayhawks (20-4, 9-2 Big 12) hit 11 of 20 on 3s, with Selden going 4 of 7. Kansas reached the 20-win mark for the 26th straight season.
Kansas sped up play in the second half and the Red Raiders couldn't keep pace. Perry Ellis scored 14 points, and Frank Mason III, Brannen Greene and Cliff Alexander each added 10 in the win.
The Jayhawks, who lead the conference in 3-point shooting at 41 percent, shot 55 percent for the game. Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith said he warned his players about Kansas' success from beyond the arc.
"When you don't do what you're supposed to do and make mistakes people are going to burn you for them and Kansas is the best in the league in doing that," he said. "We were out there but we weren't helping at all defensively. We were helping them make shots because we weren't guarding anybody and that's usually the case for us in the second half."
Norense Odiase scored 13 points and Devaughtah Williams added 11 for the Red Raiders (12-13, 2-10).
Kansas, which lost 67-62 at Oklahoma State on Saturday, came out after halftime with more zip on its passes. That allowed them to get open for more 3-pointers and they hit six after the break.
Ellis, a junior, needs three more points to reach 1,000 for his career. He left the game in the second half just shy of becoming the 56th Kansas player in program history to get to the milestone.
"Coach said they were good shots we were taking (in the first half) and we were just missing them," Ellis said. "So he told us to keep attacking in the second half, and that's what we did and good things happened."
The Red Raiders will have upsets ahead, Self said.
"I do think Texas Tech been a much different team at home than they've been on the road for the most part," he said. "But they're going to beat somebody else here. I don't know who, but it wasn't a shock to see what they did to Iowa State and to Kansas State."
TIP-INS:
Kansas: The Jayhawks were coming off their second Big 12 road loss of the season, which ended their five-game winning streak. The win Tuesday night lifted the Jayhawks to 65-8 under Self following a defeat.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders have beaten a Top 10 Kansas team in Lubbock three times in the past 10 seasons. Texas Tech won in double overtime in 2005 when the Jayhawks were No. 2 and again in 2007 when Kansas was No. 5 — both under Bob Knight. In 2009, No. 9 Kansas fell to Pat Knight's Red Raiders.
STAT LINE: Texas Tech outscored the Jayhawks in the paint, 28-24, despite being a shorter team overall.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: "We played good for about 19 minutes in the game and then the bottom fell out in the second half. Kansas is just that talented." Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith
UP NEXT:
Kansas plays host to No. 16 Baylor on Saturday.
Texas Tech travels to Texas on Saturday night.
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