Aldrich Leads Kansas To 79-43 Victory Over Albany
LAWRENCE, Kan.— Sophomore center Cole Aldrich led all scorers with 20 points, 12 in the second half, as the Kansas men's basketball team defeated Albany 79-43 Tuesday evening.
Kansas improved to 9-3 on the year while winning its 31st consecutive game in Allen Fieldhouse. Albany fell to 8-5 overall and dropped to 1-4 on the road this season.
Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed scored 12 points off the bench, matching his career high.
Junior Sherron Collins, who had previously led Kansas in scoring in nine of 11 games this season, was the next highest Jayhawk scorer finishing with seven points and four assists.
Quintrell Thomas finished with six points. The freshman was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Anthony Raffa led Albany in scoring with 11 points off 4-of-13 shooting. Brian Connelly and Scotty McRae each contributed eight points.
Albany matched the Jayhawks' rebounding total at 34, but Kansas forced 17 turnovers, 10 in the second half, while only committing 15, and just seven in the second half.
Kansas came out strong early in the first half jumping to a 22-6 lead behind six points from both Reed and Aldrich. Reed hit his first two three-point attempts and finished the half 3-of-3 from beyond the arc for nine points.
Kansas capped off a commanding first half with a Travis Releford baseline lay-up off a Collins pass. The bucket put the Jayhawks up 40-19 at the break and the Great Danes would never get any closer.
Aldrich scored the first 10 points of the second half for Kansas helping to keep the game out of reach.
Kansas will face No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN. The Jayhawks will look to push their Allen Fieldhouse winning streak to 32 games and record their first win over a ranked opponent this season.