LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kim English probably didn’t have Kansas guard Jalen Coleman-Lands or forward Mitch Lightfoot circled on his scouting report.
Coleman-Lands came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers and score 20 points, Lightfoot hopped up after him and scored 14, and together they helped No. 6 Kansas hold off the Patriots 76-67 on Saturday in a late addition to the schedule.
“I think the bench went (16 of 19) from the field. That was something we needed,” said Lightfoot, who shot 7 of 7. “We just want to go out there and produce for our guys and give us the best ability to win.”
Kansas led just 66-61 with 3 minutes left when Christian Braun rattled in a 3-pointer to extend the lead. George Mason came up empty on its next two possessions, and Ochai Agbaji converted a three-point play at the other end with 1:48 to go to put the game out of reach.
Braun finished with 14 points and Agbaji had 11 for the Jayhawks (11-1), who never led by more than 12 before holding off the upstarts from the Atlantic 10 to win their 25th consecutive non-conference home game.
“Our starters were terrific against Nevada (on Wednesday). And as good as we were against Nevada, we were probably that poor today,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “And our bench was awful against Nevada and it was even better today. We would not have won the game without them.”
D’Shawn Schwartz had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Davonte Gaines also scored 15 for George Mason (7-6). Leading scorer Josh Oduro added 12 points and DeVon Cooper and Xavier Johnson had 11 apiece. “I’m just happy we got to play basketball,” said English, who has plenty of history with the Jayhawks from his playing days at rival Missouri. “We got to play against a quality opponent in a great environment. It’s going to help us for league play. We got better today. No matter the result, we got better.”
Even though the matchup was added late, and it was accompanied by a swirling snowstorm and single-digit temps, Kansas officials said they managed to sell out Allen Fieldhouse for the 325th straight time dating to the 2001-02 season.
Still, there were plenty of empty seats as George Mason stood toe-to-toe with the sluggish Jayhawks in the first half.
Part of that had to do with Kansas playing without starting point guard Remy Martin, who has a minor knee injury from a tangle with the Wolf Pack earlier this week. That forced Self into using some unorthodox lineups, including extra playing time for Coleman-Lands, a transfer from Iowa State, and Drake transplant Joseph Yesefu.
Coleman-Lands made the most of his time. He hit three first-half 3s to help Kansas pull ahead 48-37 at the break.
“My teammates give me the confidence to play the same way ever day,” Coleman-Lands said. “Shoot shots if I’m open. Play defense. It’s as simple as that.”
Coleman-Lands, who fouled out in the final minutes, kept the hot going in the second half. He added another guarded 3 from the wing to push the lead to 63-53 with 8:39 to play, and forcing English to burn one of his timeouts.
That calmed down George Mason, which remained close to the Jayhawks the rest of the way.
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