Zeke Mayo scored 19 points in his Kansas debut to lead the No. 1 Jayhawks to an 87-57 victory over Howard Monday night in Lawrence.
Mayo transferred to Kansas from South Dakota State and helped the Jayhawks win their 52nd consecutive home opener.
The Jayhawks outscored Howard 11-4 to start the second half and the Bison never got closer than 29 points the rest of the game.
The Jayhawks (1-0) also had Hunter Dickinson (16) and Flory Bidunga (13) in double figures. Dickinson missed the Jayhawks’ exhibition game with an injury, but he played 21 minutes and grabbed six rebounds against Howard.
Blake Harper led Howard with 16 points. Anwar Gill and Marcus Dockery each tallied seven points for the Bison. The Bison shot 51.7 percent from the field in the second half to finish a respectable 37.9 percent for the game.
The Jayhawks are picked to win the sturdy Big 12 Conference, while the Bison are predicted to win the MEAC.
Kansas wasted little time in establishing dominance. After trailing 4-3, the Jayhawks ran off 12 straight points. The run extended to 21-1 midway through the first half. The Bison missed 10 straight shots during that stretch.
By halftime, the lead was 27 (46-19) as Mayo had 13 points and Bidunga added 10. Mayo was 3-of-4 from the 3-point line.
Kansas hit 62.5 percent from the field (20-of-32). Howard hit just 24.1 percent of its shots (7-of-29). The Bison were led by Joshua Strong with six points.
–Field Level Media
