NORMAN, Okla. (AP) Isaiah Moss made the transition from reserve to starter look easy.
The graduate transfer scored 20 points in his first start for Kansas and helped the sixth-ranked Jayhawks beat Oklahoma 66-52 on Tuesday night.
Moss stepped in for leading scorer Devon Dotson, who sat out with a hip injury, and made 6 of 11 3-pointers. Moss was well prepared to move into the starting five he had started every game he played in the previous two seasons at Iowa.
We learned in shootaround that Devon wasnt going to play, Moss said. Devon is a big part of our offense. So we knew that all the guards would have to step up. We did that tonight. I felt like I got some momentum going hitting some early shots and just felt comfortable tonight.
Udoka Azubuike had 16 points and 14 rebounds and Marcus Garrett added 15 points for the Jayhawks (13-3, 3-1 Big 12), who bounced back from a loss to Baylor last Saturday.
It wasnt pretty, but Kansas coach Bill Self was fine with that. His Jayhawks overcame a sluggish first half to shoot 50% from the field after the break.
We scored 66 points and it felt like we were on fire tonight, Self said. Thats how hard it is to score in this league. It could be a first one to 60 and I know thats not very exciting to everyone. That is the type of grind-out game that the NCAA Tournament games typically are.
Kristian Doolittle had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Oklahoma (11-5, 2-2), but he made just 5 of 18 shots. DeVion Harmon scored 13 points and Brady Manek added 10 points for the Sooners.
Oklahoma shot 31% from the field, including 8 of 29 from 3-point range.
I thought we did a great job defending OUs scorers on the perimeter, Self said. That was probably the biggest thing for us.
Oklahoma struggled to deal with Azubuike, a 7-foot, 255-pound center.
We knew we had a mismatch with them inside, Azubuike said. They have a bunch of guys who like to shoot the ball. So we had to move our feet and get out on them. Our bigs are what make us go.
The Sooners had won home games against the Jayhawks the previous two years, and it looked like they might get another one. Kansas led 28-27 at the break after a back-and-forth first half.
Kansas controlled the early part of the second half, but a 3-pointer by Doolittle cut Kansas lead to 49-45. Garrett answered with a 3-pointer, and then Azubuike dunked to put Kansas in control for good.
Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger and the Sooners couldnt find any answers in their second straight loss.
