Mon Jan 14 23:28:42 2008

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Unbeaten Kansas cruises over Oklahoma; Griffin leaves game

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Lawrence, KS (Sports Network) - Darnell Jackson had 17 points and eight rebounds as third-ranked Kansas breezed past Oklahoma, 85-55, at Allen Fieldhouse.

Brandon Rush finished the game with 16 points, nine boards and four assists while Darrell Arthur added 14 points and eight boards for the Jayhawks (17-0, 2-0 Big 12), who have double-digit victories in 14 of their 17 wins this season.

Longar Longar had a game-high 21 points while Tony Crocker added 10 points for the Sooners (12-5, 0-2), who have dropped their last two games after a five- game winning streak.

Oklahoma also saw freshman forward Blake Griffin -- the Sooners' leader in points and rebounds -- leave the game due to injury. Griffin played just five minutes, and left the game in the first half with an apparent knee injury.

The Jayhawks grabbed control of this game from the start and scored 14 of the first 16 points, with three baskets from Jackson.

The Sooners got back into the game with a 10-2 run, capped on a three-pointer from David Godbold with 9:28 to play to cut their deficit to 23-14.

However, a bit later Kansas scored 10 straight points to extend its lead and eventually took a 40-20 advantage into the locker room.

Oklahoma scored the first five points of the second half as Longar hit a free throw to complete a three-point play, making it a 40-25 game less than a minute in.

However, Kansas answered with 11 straight points and had a 51-25 lead on a Rush trey a bit over three minutes in.

The Jayhawks led by as many as 32 points in the second half and cruised to the finish line.

Game Notes

Kansas owns a 133-64 advantage in the all-time series with Oklahoma...Godbold finished the game with six points and seven boards...Mario Chalmers had 13 points and five assists for Kansas...Kansas shot 53.4 percent in the game and went 17-of-18 from the charity stripe, while Oklahoma hit just 32.8 percent of its shots.