No. 8 Kansas Too Much For UNLV

Kansas outran the Runnin' Rebels.

Kenny Gregory scored 21 points and No. 8 Kansas broke open a close game in the second half for a 78-50 victory over UNLV in the Tip-Off Classic on Friday night.

"We played a little harder in the second half," Gregory said. "We pushed the ball better, blocked out better, and shot better. We started doing things we're capable of doing."

Kansas (4-0, 0-0) closed the game with an 11-0 run, holding the Runnin' Rebels (3-2, 0-0) scoreless over the last 4:50.

"We're not there yet as a team," said UNLV coach Bill Bayno, a former assistant at Kansas. "Our players got tired."

Nick Bradford scored 19 points for Kansas. Shawn Marion and Brian Keefe each had 12 points for UNLV, which missed 10 of 13 free throws.

UNLV trailed by only two points at halftime, but Kansas opened the second half with a 13-3 run and took a 49-37 lead on Gregory's dunk. Bradford later scored off a no-look pass from Gregory to give Kansas a 66-46 lead.

Kansas coach Roy Williams said he expects his team to get even stronger in coming weeks.

"We feel we'll be ready by the time our conference season gets going," he said.

Marion kept UNLV close in the first half with steals and dunks, and Keefe's 3-pointer in the closing seconds made it 36-34 at halftime.

"In the first half we proved we could play with one of the better teams in the country," Bayno said.

The Tip-Off Classic used to kick off the college basketball season.

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