Illinois State Illinois St/Kansas Kansas Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Luckily for the Jayhawks (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 AP), they were also talented enough to survive a lackluster performance and beat Illinois State 80-61 Thursday night.

"We were playing horrible," said point guard Kirk Hinrich. "It's the worst I've ever seen us play."

The Redbirds (1-1) shot only 8-of-31 from the field in the first half. But Kansas (7-0) shot a miserable 12-of-30 and got an earful from coach Roy Williams.

"Coach got on us," said Drew Gooden, who led the Jayhawks with 17 points. "We just had to go out there and pick it up, pick up the intensity."

With Gooden leading the way, the Jayhawks hit seven of their first eight shots in the second half and quickly took command, although Illinois State cut the lead to 15 a few minutes later.

"They outplayed us in that first half," Gooden said. "Coach really talked to us."

At one point in the ragged first half, a disgusted Williams pulled all his starters off the court and inserted second-teamers, who turned a one-point deficit into a five-point lead during their four minutes.

"I think it was a good coaching move," Gooden said. "The starting five were not playing Kansas basketball. Then the subs came out and only allowed one point in about four minutes. So coach said, 'See how easy it is?"'

Midway through the second half, Williams had to call time because the Jayhawks had only four players on the court.

"Drew thought somebody had subbed for him and Luke (Axtell) thought somebody subbed for him," center Eric Chenowith said. "Nothing was going well for us."

Kenny Gregory, Axtell, Chenowith and Kenny Gregory each scored 11 points for the Jayhawks. With six rebounds, Chenowith missed a double-double for the first time in four games.

Shawn Jeppson led Illinois State with 14 points.

"They were a little sluggish in the beginning, but they took it away in the second half," said Jeppson. "We missed a couple of easy shots."

Gooden's free throw ignited a 27-13 run the first 9:10 of the second half and the Jayhawks took a 60-38 lead on Gooden's short jumper.

Illinois State cut the lead to 67-54 with a 12-5 run later in the half. But the Jayhawks quickly made it 77-56 with a 10-8 run, capped by Chenowith's two free throws.

The Jayhawks, who shot over 50 percent in each of their first six games, wound up hitting 29-of-59 for 49 percent. The Redbirds were 20-of-60.

It's the seventh time in Williams' 12 seasons the Jayhawks have started 7-0.

"They've been beating the heck out of everybody, so I just told them to play hard and good things will happen," Illinois State coach Tom Richardson said. "I hope we had something to do with their play in the first half."

ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard

Illinois State Clubhouse

Kansas Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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Nick Collison drives the baseline and dishes to Kenny Gregory for the three-point play.
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Cedric Knight takes the loose ball and goes up for a score and goes to the line.
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Kirk Hinrich sends the ball to Luke Axtell, who lays it in.
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Kansas' Jeff Boschee makes the steal and runs the floor for the layup.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1