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The No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks were in flawless form in their Big 12 opener with a 79-65 win over the No. 7 West Virginia Mountaineers on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas.
Kansas (8-1, 2-0 Big 12) shot 16-36 three point range, led by 22 points from sophomore guard Christian Braun, who was 6-12 from downtown and 7-14 overall. KU had 19 assists on 28 made baskets, and won the second chance points battle 25-14. Freshman Jalen Wilson added 17 points and seven rebounds.
West Virginia led 36-35 at halftime, but allowed Kansas to shoot 9-19 from three-point range in the second stanza. The stats on both sides were pretty close in total, but the difference was simply one team made more shots from the floor.
Sean McNeil led West Virginia (7-2, 1-1 Big 12) with 24 points on 8-12 from the floor, but WVU was just 8-23 from deep, and 1-11 after intermission. For a team that prides itself on physicality, they were outrebounded 40-37. Miles McBride added 19 points and five rebounds in the loss.