Men's college basketball: Stanford falls to Kansas; Cal stays hot at home

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Jerrod Haase received a long, loud ovation upon his return to Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday.

The rest of the cheers were for the Jayhawks.

Frank Mason III scored 20 points, Devonte Graham delivered an early 3-point barrage and fourth-ranked Kansas pulled away late for an 89-74 victory over Stanford, spoiling the return of the Cardinal's coach to the building where he once starred as a player.

"Certainly an emotional day," Haase said. "My emotions right now are more frustrated we didn't play at a higher level, but for me personally, it means a lot - the reception."

The Jayhawks (7-1) hardly greeted him as warmly, using their speed, depth and outside shooting to turn a 43-35 halftime lead into another rout at a building that has seen its share of them.

"We talked about how they packed the lane and how we were going to have to drive, pitch and drive it again," Graham said. "We just did a good job of moving the ball, attacking bad close-outs and having the confidence to let them fly."

Graham hit five 3s and finished with 15 points, and Josh Jackson and Svi Mykhailiuk added 13 points apiece, as the Jayhawks won for the 44th consecutive time in their old barn.

Reid Travis had a career-best 29 points and nine rebounds for Stanford (6-3), doing most of his damage at the free throw line. The career 54 percent free throw shooter was 19 of 22, breaking the school record for makes set by Todd Lichti against UC Santa Barbara during the 1987-88 season.

Travis also set records for makes and attempts in a game against Kansas. Rayford Young of Texas Tech hit 18 foul shots in February 1999 and Iowa State's Craig Brackins attempted 21 in January 2009.

"I felt like my teammates did a great job of establishing me early, getting me in the post," Travis said. "I knew I had to draw a lot of fouls, get us to the line early and get a rhythm going."

After falling into an early deficit, Kansas coach Bill Self began going with a bigger lineup to deal with Travis in the paint, and that seemed to open up Graham on the perimeter. He knocked down all five of his 3-pointers in the first half, helping the Jayhawks to a 43-35 lead.

Stanford kept going to Travis inside, and the 6-foot-8 brute kept going to the free throw line. During two separate stretches of the second half, he made four free throws in less than a minute.

"He drew basically 17 fouls on four guys, so that just goes to tell you we didn't play the scouting report," Self said. "Our guys just played butt-behind and let him go wherever he wanted to go."

The Jayhawks showcased their versatility in other areas, though.

Down the stretch, Jackson scored on a nifty dunk off an alley-oop pass, Mason got a tilting runner to go while crashing to the floor, and Mykhailiuk knocked down 3-pointers from the wing that sent the lead ballooning toward 20 late in the game.

Stanford's first-year coach played three seasons for the Jayhawks under Roy Williams, and later served as their director of basketball operations. Haase then followed Williams to North Carolina, but he was fondly received on Saturday, getting a massive ovation from an appreciative crowd.

"I remember clearly walking into Allen Fieldhouse when I was first recruited," Haase said, "and I think I'll remember the feeling at shootaround today, walking into the arena."

Kansas snapped a two-game skid against the Cardinal that included an NCAA Tournament loss in 2014, when Andrew Wiggins and Co. couldn't slow down Stanford in St. Louis. The Jayhawks were even able to get their benchwarmers some action for the third straight game.

Stanford gets nearly two weeks off before playing Cal State East Bay on Dec. 16.

Cal 83, Alcorn State 59

Better transition defense and another career day from Ivan Rabb kept Cal's winning streak at Haas Pavilion going.

Maintaining a big lead - something the Golden Bears have struggled to do this season - certainly helped, too.

Rabb scored 18 of his career-high 26 points in the first half and Cal beat Alcorn State 83-59 on Saturday for its 25th consecutive home win.

"It's very important for us as a team to grow and to keep pushing the lead, especially in the second half," said Roger Moute a Bidias, who matched his career high of 12 points for the third time this season. "In the past we've had halves where we come back and we're a little slower and we let teams get back into it. You don't want to give a team confidence when you have a lead like that."

Cal (6-1) went into the game riding a three-game winning streak despite blowing 20-point leads each time. Coach Cuonzo Martin blamed it on the team's injuries which forced him to mix and match the lineups.

It hardly mattered against Alcorn State.

Cal built a 44-25 halftime lead, led by as much as 29 in the second half and coasted to its fourth straight win.

"In the two games that we had here when we gave up big leads we did a poor job with our transition defense, a poor job carrying out assignments," Martin said. "It was better today."

Three days after setting his previous career best for scoring, Rabb shot 10 of 12 and had seven rebounds to lead a dominant effort down low by Cal. Rabb scored on a pair of putbacks in the first half, added a one-handed dunk off a lob pass from Charlie Moore then scored six points as part of an 11-2 run in the second half.

Moore, the Bears' leading scorer going into the game, had an off-game while filling in for point guard Grant Mullins. Moore missed his first six shots and finished with seven points and four assists.

Alcorn State (2-5) couldn't keep up and lost its third straight.

Reginal Johnson scored a season-high 17 points and had seven rebounds while Marquis Vance added 11 points for the Braves.

"We have to run our offense a little better and play with a little more pace and tempo," Alcorn State coach Montez Robinson said. "We got stagnant at times."

The Bears got on top early and never let the Braves get back into the game, a definite step up after Cal had troubles closing out games earlier this season. Getting Moute a Bidias going is another good sign as the team tries to find some complementary scoring to support Rabb.

Mullins was in Canada to be with family following the death of his grandmother. The graduate transfer is expected to rejoin the Bears in Hawaii. Jabari Bird, who hasn't played since the season-opener, continues to be sidelined with a sore back. Bird averaged 10.4 points and shot better than 40 percent from 3-point range last season.

The Bears left immediately after the win to fly to Hawaii for a pair of games in the Pearl Harbor Invitational. Cal opens against Princeton on Tuesday night.