Nov. 9, 2012

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No. 7/7 KANSAS 74, Southeast Missouri State 55
Postgame Notes
November 9, 2012

KANSAS STARTERS (Career/Season):

• Perry Ellis (1/1), Ben McLemore (1/1), Elijah Johnson (99/1), Travis Releford (102/1) and Jeff Withey (81/1).
• Perry Ellis and Ben McLemore became the first tandem of first-year Kansas players to start in a season-opener since the 1969-70 season when sophomores Bud Stallworth and Aubrey Nash started against Marshall (freshmen were not immediately eligible at entering college at that time).

THE KANSAS' WIN:

• KU has won 40-straight Allen Fieldhouse season-opening games, dating back to the 1973-74 season.
• KU has won 11-consecutive season-opening games, dating back to the 2001-02 campaign, including 10-0 mark in the Bill Self-era.
• KU posts a victory in the first series meeting against Southeast Missouri State and now leads the series, 1-0.
• KU is now 19-0 against the current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
• KU now owns a 23-game home-court winning streak, which entered the game as the fourth-longest in NCAA Division I.
• KU is now 683-107 (.865) all-time when playing at Allen Fieldhouse, including 146-7 (.954) under head coach Bill Self.
• Coach Self's record improves to 270-53 (.836) at Kansas and 477-158 (.751) overall.
• KU is now 2,071-806 (.720) all-time.
• KU extended its streak to 244 games without consecutive losses, which is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

TEAM NOTES:

• Kansas opened the game on an 11-0 run.  Southeast Missouri State missed its first five field goal attempts and was held scoreless until the 15:52 mark of the first half. 
• At the 7:32 mark of the first half, with KU leading 20-12, the Jayhawks went on an 8-2 run over the next 3:07 to push the lead to 28-14.  SEMO was 0-for-3 from the field during that stretch.
• Kansas held Southeast Missouri State to 17 first-half points, which was the lowest by a KU opponent since Howard scored 13 points on Dec. 29, 2011.
• Kansas has held 179 or its last 185 opponent to under 50 percent shooting, Southeast Missouri State shot 29 percent from the floor (18-for-62).
• KU shot 2-for-21 (9.5 percent) from beyond the arc, which tied for the sixth-lowest three-point field goal percentage in school history, equaling the 2-for-21 effort against VCU on March 27, 2011.
• Kansas has sold out its last 181 games in Allen Fieldhouse, dating back to the second game of the 2001-02 season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

• Senior Jeff Withey scored the first point of the 2012-13 season when he converted on the backend of his two free throws at the 19:55 mark of the first half. Withey also scored KU's first field goal with a follow-up dunk with 18:43 on the clock.
• Freshman Perry Ellis scored his first collegiate points with 17:23 remaining in the first half on a left-side baseline jumper.
• Freshman Jamari Taylor scored his first collegiate points with a baseline layup in the first half with 14:11 on the clock.
• Freshman Ben McLemore scored his first collegiate points from the foul line, sinking all three tries after being fouled on a three-point attempt at the 16:53 mark.
• Freshman Rio Adams joined the effort and scored his first points on a pair of free throws at the 9:43 mark of the first half.
• Senior Travis Releford hauled in five rebounds in the opening 7:50 of the game, marking the 19^th time in his career he has posted five or more boards in a game.  He finished with five.
• Withey scored double-digit points for the 19^th time in his career.  He finished with a game-high 17 points.  He also added 12 rebounds, marking his seventh career double-double.  It was also his seventh career double-digit rebound performance.
• Withey also added five blocked shots, pushing his career total to 170, and posted three or more blocked shots in a game for the 23^rd time in his career.
• Ellis finished with 15 points for his first-career double-digit scoring game, becoming the first KU newcomer to post double-figures in his debut since Kevin Young (13 points against Towson on Nov. 11, 2011).  His 15 points were the most by a newcomer since Josh Selby scored 21 points against USC on Dec. 18, 2010.
• McLemore collected 12 rebounds in his KU debut, becoming the first Jayhawk with double-digit rebounds in their first career game since Markieff Morris (15 boards vs. UMKC on Nov. 16, 2008).
• McLemore also added five assists, which were the most in a Kansas debut since Aaron Miles had five assists against Ball State on Nov. 19, 2001.
• Naadir Tharpe finished with 10 points, establishing a new career high, topping his old mark of nine points at Texas Tech on Jan. 11, 2012.
• Andrew White III's three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the game were his first collegiate points.