National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Kansas 72, Oklahoma 61
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 7, 2012
Where: Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma
Officials: # Warren Evans, # Steve Olson, # Kelly Self
Attendance: 11268

Travis Releford scored a career-high 28 points and Thomas Robinson added 18 points and nine rebounds as No. 15 Kansas defeated Oklahoma 72-61 Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center.

Releford, who had 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the Jayhawks’ 67-49 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday, went 9-of-13 from the field and also made three 3-pointers.

Kansas (12-3, 2-0 Big 12) trailed 34-33 at the half, but opened the second half with a 23-4 run to take a 56-38 lead with 12:06 left. Releford had eight points during the stretch as the Jayhawks scored plenty of easy baskets in transition.

Oklahoma (10-4, 0-2 Big 12), meanwhile, couldn’t get in any kind of rhythm. The Sooners committed five of their 16 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half and misfired on eight of their first 11 field-goal attempts.

Steven Pledger had a team-high 14 points for the Sooners, who lost to Kansas for the seventh straight time. Andrew Fitzgerald and Carl Blair each added 11.

Oklahoma, which shot 38 percent from the field, has dropped three of four after a 9-1 start and fell to 0-2 in conference play for the second consecutive season. Kansas has won five straight since suffering an 80-74 loss to Davidson on Dec. 19.

Five players had two or more steals for the Jayhawks, who finished with 14 of them.
Top Game Performances
 
Kansas   Oklahoma
Travis Releford 28 Scoring Steven Pledger 14
Tyshawn Taylor 6 Assists Sam Grooms 5
Thomas Robinson 9 Rebounds Romero Osby 9
Travis Releford 7 Free Throws Made Carl Blair Jr. 6
Tyshawn Taylor 3 Steals Carl Blair Jr. 2
Jeff Withey 3 Blocks Barry Honore 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Kansas 72 50.0 4-19 10-14 17 29 4 14 13
Oklahoma 61 38.0 3-9 20-28 10 31 3 7 17