No. 11 Kansas rallies past Florida
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lawrence, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Wayne Selden Jr. scored a game-high 21 points as No. 11 Kansas stormed from behind for a 71-65 win over Florida in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge game on Friday.
Cliff Alexander had 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Frank Mason III and Perry Ellis scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Jayhawks (6-1), who outscored Florida 47-26 in the second half to win their fifth consecutive game.
Devin Robinson supplied 13 points and Chris Walker donated 12 points and five boards for the Gators (3-4), who led by as much as 18 points in the second half, but still lost their second game in a row.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I feel like the first half, we had it," said Walker. "But in the second half the crowd got into it, the players started hitting tough shots and we really couldn't do anything. The crowd helped them out."
Trailing 45-27 early in the second half, the Jayhawks embarked on a 9-0 run. Alexander supplied consecutive layups and Selden made it a 49-43 game with a layup of his own with 8:57 to play.
After a Robinson 3-pointer, the Jayhawks went on another lengthy run. Alexander made four foul shots, Selden hit two jumpers, Ellis' free throw tied the game and Selden's shot from the top of the key gave Kansas a 54-52 lead with 5:43 remaining.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alexander and Devonte Graham each knocked down a pair of free throws and Ellis drained a jumper to end the 17-0 burst for a 60-52 advantage a minute later.
Walker's free throw with three minutes to play was Florida's first point in 5 1/2 minutes. Michael Frazier's layup and 3-pointer got the Gators within 67-62 with 49 seconds to play, but Graham's four free throws sealed the win for Kansas.
"We have been at that point before in this season, as you know, we didn't handle it well," said Selden. "But we were able to do the total opposite thing, whatever we did at half time that last time (against Kentucky), and then tried to do the total opposite thing and come out and really switch it. And we did a good job with it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk's trey gave the hosts an 11-5 lead just over five minutes into the game, but back-to-back triples from Dorian Finney-Smith and Frazier put the finishing touches on a 14-0 swing to give the Gators a 24-14 lead with 8:24 to play in the first half.
Robinson's shot from beyond the arc capped a 9-0 spurt that increased Florida's lead to 35-18 and the Gators led 39-24 at the break.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kansas improved to 4-2 all-time against Florida ... The Gators visited Allen Fieldhouse for just the second time, the first matchup coming on Dec. 7, 1994 ... Kansas is 178-9 at home under head coach Bill Self ... Frazier and Jon Horford each had 10 points, while Kasey Hill contributed eight assists for the Gators.