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In last years’ Kansas vs. Texas Tech game, a questionable call by an official gave the Red Raiders just enough of a break to take the game from the Jayhawks. This year, the officials were never a factor. Really, neither were the visitors from Lubbock. Brandon Rush tied his career high with 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead KU to a startlingly easy 86-52 victory over Texas Tech Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse. Sasha Kaun scored all 10 of his points in the first half on five of six shooting from the field, and Darnell Jackson came off the bench to score another 10 for KU. Jarrius Jackson, the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 coming in, had 17 for Bobby Knight’s squad. Rebounds and balance were the big stories in this game. KU out-rebounded Tech by a huge margin, 51-25. Eight different Jayhawks scored at least six points and had at least three rebounds. Kansas also had a huge advantage in second chance points and points in the paint. Where the perimeter players had carried KU the last four games (including at Missouri) the Jayhawks got decent, solid play from the post against Tech. "We had good balance tonight, everyone got a chance to contribute," KU coach Bill Self said. "It's been a fun process over the last month." "We are nowhere close to where we can be but I think we are building every day." This game was characterized not by a sudden frenzy of points that got KU to a big lead, although KU did have some runs in the game. Rather, this game saw a steadily increasing lead for the Jayhawks until the last five minutes when both teams emptied their benches. "We just got beat by a much, much better team," Knight said. "They played very well.  We just were never really able to do much with them.  This is a very simple thing; they are a much better team than we are." In the first half Kaun played about as well as anyone could ever expect him to. He scored twice early in the game off the high-low offense Self’s teams are known for, and yanked three rebounds off the defensive glass while playing the first six minutes of the game. Tech seemed to over-defend the perimeter which gave Kaun, C.J. Giles and Jackson room to operate. "The good thing about our team is that we have such a talented group; anyone can contribute at any time," said Kaun. "One game it may be the guards, and the next it's the big guys. The inside play tonight was definitely good for my confidence." While the guards didn’t have much of an offensive first half, they played quite well after halftime. Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers combined for 14 points, 13 assists and only two turnovers. "It's our job to get the ball inside," Robinson said of himself and his backcourt mate Chalmers. "We did a good job today of getting the ball inside and our big guys did their job by cleaning up rebounds and giving us easy buckets. We did a good job defensively, which helped on the offensive end." As a team KU turned the ball over but 12 times; two were in mop-up time and one was charged to Christian Moody when he led a fast break, narrowly missing a spectacular pass to Rush on a fast break late in the first half. Giles had four turnovers, but even those came in aggressive play. On a night where there wasn’t a lot of downside, KU did struggle some from three-point range. Take out Rush’s four of six from beyond the arc and KU went two of 10 as a team. Giles picked up a couple of ticky-tack fouls in the first half while battling Tech’s Jon Plefka, who picked up three fouls of his own in only 12 minutes of play. Giles did play better in the second half, hitting his only two shots and finishing with six points to go with seven rebounds. After beginning conference play 1-2 the Jayhawks now share second place with Colorado at 5-2. It’s not hard to imagine how KU could be unbeaten to date, with the two losses so disheartening. "We were discouraged. We weren't discouraged because we were 1-2, we were discouraged by how we lost the two games," said Self. "You are not going to see many teams that go unbeaten or with one loss in this league. The competition is too stiff and the home court means too much. The guys are picking it up and seem to be playing better together." Mark Howe is a freelance writer currently residing in Milford, IN. He is a former ticket taker, usher and security worker at Allen Fieldhouse, and can be reached at mhowe (at) rockchalk (dot) com.