LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Coppin State began a difficult, three-stop tour of the Big Eight Conference last night, and the big boys of the league showed the Eagles how the elite play the game.
The fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, fresh off a victory over former No. 1 Massachusetts and looking ahead to tomorrow's showdown against No. 6 Florida, showed no signs of a letdown by hammering the Eagles, 91-69, before 13,000 at Allen Fieldhouse.
It was the first time Coppin State (0-3) had faced Kansas (3-0), and the Jayhawks gave the Eagles a memorable lesson.
"We're not afraid of the competition," Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell said. "Playing out here is going to benefit us in the long run. We might not have the talent or the skills of the teams here, but I know we have heart."
Kansas coach Roy Williams agreed.
"Fang has got the right idea," he said. "He knows he's got a good team. His strength of schedule is going to help come postseason time. I told Fang he's going to get somebody. I just hoped it wasn't going to be tonight."
It wasn't. Coppin State dropped its first two games at Oklahoma and St. John's by fading late after flirting with an upset, but the Jayhawks permitted no such suspense.
Sparked by the powerful inside play of 7-foot-2 center Greg Ostertag and 6-11 forward Raef LaFrentz, the outside shooting of guard Jerod Haase, the outstanding passing of point guard Jacque Vaughn and relentless defensive pressure, the Jayhawks turned back a brief Coppin State rally in the first half and quickly took over.
The Jayhawks moved out to a 41-32 halftime lead, then blew the game open with a 19-5 run to start the second half.
Not even a superb shooting exhibition by Coppin State guard Keith Carmichael could keep Kansas from dominating the Eagles. Carmichael did his part by scoring a career- and game-high 32 points. He got 30 of the points on 10 three-pointers, also a career high, and went over the 1,000-point mark in career scoring.
"The last two games, I haven't been feeling it. I've been trying to get my stroke back for the past two practices, and I think it showed tonight," said Carmichael, who was 10-for-20 from three-point range.
Kansas also showed why it figures once again to contend for a national championship. The Jayhawks also dug deep into their bench with success. Eleven players scored for Kansas.
As expected, the Jayhawks had their way in the paint, especially after Eagles forward Michael Thomas and center Mario McGriff sat for a combined 31:32 of the first half in foul trouble.
Thomas drew two fouls in the game's first 90 seconds, and sat for the final 18 minutes of the first half. McGriff missed the half's final 13:32 in foul trouble. They combined for just eight points, and their absence allowed Ostertag (11 points, nine rebounds, two blocks) and LaFrentz (16 points) to control the low post.
But the key difference was Kansas' ability to hit the outside shot. Coppin State came out in a zone defense designed to minimize the effect of the Jayhawks down low, but Haase, a sophomore transfer from California, foiled that strategy by hitting three three-pointers to open the game.
Haase started the second half in similar fashion. He hit two more threes, sparking the 19-5 run that put the Eagles into a 60-37 hole six minutes into the half. Haase finished with a team-high 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting, including 6-for-10 from three-point range.
"We realized the disadvantage in size, and in order for us to be successful, we hoped they wouldn't have a good shooting night from the outside, which they did," Mitchell said.
Coppin State continues its Big Eight stretch at Missouri on Thursday and at Kansas State on Saturday.