Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and No. 17 Kansas played strong defense Friday night in an 89-45 victory against visiting Middle Tennessee in Lawrence, Kansas.
Christian Reeves added 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting for the Jayhawks, who made 21-of-27 field goals in the second half to open a 22-point lead at the break.
Picked to finish third in the Big 12, the Jayhawks (2-0) face No. 23 Kentucky at the United Center in Chicago on Tuesday night. The Wildcats beat James Madison 89-80 at Rupp Arena on Friday.
Thirteen players scored for Kansas, including Tre White and Luke Barnett with nine points apiece. Tyran Stokes and Keanu Dawes each added eight points.
Dawes also led in rebounds with eight, and Dennis Parker Jr. added seven.
Middle Tennessee (1-1) shot just 25% from the field, making 17 of 68 attempts, and started particularly cold from 3-point range.
Jarred Hall led the Blue Raiders with 11 points, and Jahvin Carter added seven points on 3-of-19 shooting — 1 for 7 on 3s.
White rattled in a 3-pointer from beyond the right elbow at the buzzer to give Kansas a 36-14 lead at halftime.
Middle Tennessee shot 6 of 32 in the first half, with Hall making the Raiders’ first 3-point attempt before they missed their next 11 shots from beyond the arc.
MTSU scored four points in the final eight minutes of the first half.
The Blue Raiders also committed 10 first-half turnovers, with the Jayhawks turning those into 15 points.
And then things got out of hand.
Freshman guard Taylen Kinney and senior Trey Kaufman-Renn made quick layups, and White hit a 3-pointer to prompt MTSU to take a timeout 2:41 into the second half. No matter: A 13-point run was underway.
Middle Tennessee, picked to finish fifth out of 10 teams in the Conference USA preseason media poll, returns home to play Evansville on Tuesday in Murfreesboro, Tenn.