USA Today photo: The Kansas Jayhawks mascot gets the mood going at Allen Fieldhouse against the visiting Stanford Cardinal Saturday in one tough building to play ball in

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, December 3, 2016

Despite the efforts of junior Reid Travis, No. 4 Kansas held off the Cardinal 89-74 Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., before an Allen Fieldhouse sellout crowd of 16,300.

Travis not only bagged a career-high 29 points, but also sank a school-record 19 free throws and grabbed nine rebounds. His 19-of-22 at the foul stripe broke Todd Lichti’s 29-year record of 18 free throws made against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 28, 1987, and established records for free throws made and attempted against Kansas.

The previous opponents free throw records against the Jayhawks were set by Rayford Young of Texas Tech (18 foul shots) in 1999 and Craig Brackins of Iowa State (21 attempts) in 2009.

Saturday’s game marked the return of Cardinal Coach Jerod Haase to Kansas, where he played from 1995-97, and received a standing ovation.

The Jayhawks (7-1) used a 16-4 run to assert themselves in the closing minutes of the first half before Stanford battled back to cut its deficit to 43-35 at halftime behind Travis’s 12 first-half points.

The Cardinal (6-3) pulled to within 73-63 on a Michael Humphrey dunk with 7:44 left in the second half, but Kansas used an 11-3 run to pull away.

Frank Mason III led Kansas with 20 points, followed by Devonte Graham, Josh Jackson and Syl Mykhailuk with 15 points each. Graham’s 3-point shooting helped the Jayhawks extend their second-half lead.

After Stanford took an early lead, Kansas Coach Bill Self went to a bigger lineup to try and neutralize Travis in the paint. The result was Graham getting open looks on the perimeter, allowing him to sink all five of his 3’s in the first half, sparking a 43-35 Jayhawks lead.

The Cardinal will take a 13-day break for semester finals. Their next game is on Dec.16 against Cal State East Bay.