Dec. 8, 2007

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LAWRENCE, Kan. - Sasha Kaun scored six of his season-high 15 points as part of a 24-1 first-half run to lead third-ranked Kansas to an 84-66 victory against DePaul in men's basketball action here Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Kansas improved to 9-0, while DePaul fell to 2-3 this season.

Kansas placed four players in double-figures as Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur each added 13 and Mario Chalmers chipped in 12 to join Kaun, who reached double-digits for the first time in six games. 

Chalmers also had nine rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.  His rebounds and steals marks were career-bests, while his seven assists were one shy of a career best.

DePaul was led by Dar Tucker, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds.  Karron Clarke and Draelon Burns each had 10 points for the Blue Demons.

After DePaul gained a 13-12 lead on a 5-0 run, Kansas outscored the visitors 24-1 over the next eight minutes to build a 36-14 advantage.  Kaun scored the first six points of the run, while Rush added eight points in the game-changing run.

After a sluggish start, the Jayhawks dominated the rest of the first half and finished the first 20 minutes outscoring DePaul 26-4 in the paint and had an 18-3 advantage in second-chance points.

The Jayhawks used a balanced effort in the first period as seven of the nine players that saw action, had at least four points and Rush was the leading scorer with eight points.

Kansas finished the game shooting 52.3 percent from the field, while holding DePaul to 39 percent, the sixth time in the last seven games the opponent has been held to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor.

While KU was out-rebounded 39-34, the Jayhawks forced 22 turnovers, while committing just 14, including just four in the second half as they pulled away for the victory.

Kaun made six of seven field goal attempts while adding five rebounds and two blocks in just 15 minutes of action.  Darnell Jackson scored eight points and added eight rebounds, while Russell Robinson added seven points, and tied a career high with nine assists for KU.

Kansas will take a week off for finals before hosting Ohio at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 4 p.m.