Christian Braun recorded a career-high 31 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists Friday as No. 8 Kansas thumped St. John’s 95-75 in Elmont, N.Y.
Braun, coming off an all-tournament showing at the ESPN Events Invitational, went 10 for 16 while helping the Jayhawks (6-1) weather a rally by the Red Storm (5-2) early in the second half.
Ochai Agbaji added 23 points for Kansas. David McCormack notched his first double-double of the season, posting 15 points and 13 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ first true road game of the year. The Jayhawks, who came in as the top shooting team in the Big 12, shot at a 48.6 percent clip in this one.
After trailing by 13 at halftime, St. John’s rallied to within 62-59 as Julian Champagnie nailed his first five 3-pointers of the second half. Champagnie posted team highs of 24 points and eight rebounds.
However, the Red Storm went cold down the stretch, missing 10 straight shots and allowing the Jayhawks to pull away.
The icy spell eventually got to St. John’s coach Mike Anderson, who stormed on the floor to protest what he thought was a goaltend with 3:45 left and was slapped with a technical.
Posh Alexander and Dylan Addae-Wusu contributed 16 points apiece, but St. John’s could not overcome 43.6 percent shooting, 17 turnovers and a whopping 47-29 rebounding deficit. The Red Storm saw a three-game winning streak end.
Agbaji scored 16 first-half points, with four 3-pointers, while McCormack added 11 points and eight boards as the Jayhawks grabbed a 43-30 halftime lead after also forcing 12 turnovers.
Kansas netted 13 straight points after St. John’s took a 2-0 lead. The Red Storm used a 7-0 run to crawl within 30-25, but the Jayhawks closed the half with a 13-5 flurry.
Braun added nine first-half points for Kansas, while Alexander led St. John’s with 10, though the Red Storm shot just 41.7 percent and made just 2 of 10 shots from behind the arc.
The basketball game was the first played at UBS Arena on Long Island, the new home of the New York Islanders.
–Field Level Media
