Kansas men's basketball crushes Middle Tennessee, 89-45

Gary Bedore, The Kansas City Star on Nov 6, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team has completed a two-game sweep of mid-major teams this week in advance of Tuesday’s Champions Classic showdown against fellow hoops blueblood Kentucky.

Former Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed four rebounds with two assists and a blocked shot as KU downed Middle Tennessee of Conference USA 89-45 on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

The game was played four days after KU’s convincing 95-65 victory over Fordham of the Atlantic 10.

KU’s defense was outstanding as the Jayhawks led 36-14 at halftime.

Tre White scored nine points. He hit two 3-pointers, including one to beat the halftime buzzer. Christian Reeves had 10 points and five rebounds and two blocked shots, while freshman Tyran Stokes and Keanu Dawes had eight points apiece in a rare Friday night game that started at 8 p.m.

KU improved to 2-0 heading into an 8:30 p.m. clash Tuesday against the Wildcats at the United Center in Chicago. Kentucky improved to 2-0 by beating James Madison, 89-80, on Friday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.

Luke Barnett came into the game at Allen Fieldhouse with six minutes left and hit three consecutive crowd-pleasing 3s for the Jayhawks. As a team, KU went 7 of 19 from deep to MTSU’s 7 of 27. Barnett, by the way, missed his fourth 3-point attempt.

Here are some observations and takeaways from Friday’s nonconference contest:

Starting lineup

Kansas coach Bill Self went with a starting lineup of Stokes, Melvin Council Jr., White, Kaufman-Renn and Taylen Kinney.

A surprise on the opening tip

Stokes, who stands 6-foot-8, jumped center for KU to open the game.

Kaufman-Renn stands 6-9.

Stokes won the tip.

Early onslaught by Purdue ex Kaufman-Renn

Former Purdue forward Kaufman-Renn had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting (3-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line) as KU led 25-10 with six minutes left in the opening half.

He had 13 at halftime as KU held a commanding 36-14 lead. White hit a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer to account for the 22-point margin.

Kansas injury report

KU sophomore Kohl Rosario did not suit up for the KU-Middle Tennessee game.

He stood past the south-end baseline and watched the Jayhawks warm up. Then he sat on the bench during the game.

Rosario suffered a cut on his face, as well as a concussion, when he was elbowed at practice on Oct. 23. The cut required 14 stitches to close.

Rosario missed the Duke exhibition on Oct. 25 and did not suit up for KU’s 95-65 regular-season opener against Fordham on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.