Ku

Eyewitness Sports Reporter Bryan Holmgren has updates as KU takes on Portland State in Omaha. FINAL - KANSAS 85, PORTLAND STATE 61 The Jayhawks did exactly what you need to do against an underdog - jump on them early and give them a little something to think about. For the third straight game, really, KU was on from the outside. It's hard to imagine them continuing to shoot over 50% from three point range through the rest of this tournament, but surely the Hawks have a few years worth of March karma coming to them.

For the sixth-straight year, the Kansas men's basketball team will make four appearances on ESPN's Big Monday, as announced by the Big 12 Conference Thursday. KU will be featured on ESPN's Big Monday on Jan. 16 versus Baylor, Jan. 23 versus Texas A&M, Feb. 13 at Kansas State and Feb. 27 at Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks have played the Cowboys in a Big Monday contest five times in the past eight seasons, have faced Kansas State three times and have taken on Baylor twice during the Big 12 era. Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, Kansas is 41-16 all-time on ESPN's Big Monday (23-1 at home, 18-15 on the road)

Bill Self tried to temper expectations surrounding fifth-ranked Kansas as the season began, pointing out all the big-name players lost to graduation and the NBA. He didn't fool his fellow Big 12 coaches. They picked the Jayhawks as co-favorites again. After rolling through their first seven conference games without a miscue, Kansas is in a familiar position. Missouri's upset loss to Oklahoma State earlier this week created a two-game cushion in the standings heading into the Jayhawks' game Saturday at Iowa State.

University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little has appointed a committee to find a successor to athletics director Lew Perkins, who resigned abruptly Sept. 7. Gray-Little announced the six-member search committee Friday and says she hopes to name a new AD by spring. The committee is chaired by Ray Evans, managing partner of Pegasus Capital Management in Overland Park. Also chosen from outside the university are Linda Ellis Sims, an account executive with ExxonMobile Corp.

Kansas coach Charlie Weis is sticking with Michael Cummings rather than Dayne Crist as the starting quarterback for Saturday's game against Texas. Cummings replaced Crist late in the game against Oklahoma State two weeks ago and provided enough of a spark to earn the job last week at Oklahoma. The redshirt freshman was 10 of 21 for 111 yards with two interceptions in the 52-7 loss to the Sooners. Crist played sparingly against at Oklahoma, going 3 of 6 for 13 yards. Crist was handed the starting job as a fifth-year senior after transferring from Notre Dame midway through last school year.

Being the point guard of Kansas comes with scrutiny. It's just like being the quarterback at Florida under Steve Spurrier, or the running back at Southern California during the eras of O.J. Simpson, Marcus Allen and Reggie Bush. That's part of the reason Tyshawn Taylor is such a polarizing player. The senior guard for the seventh-ranked Jayhawks is universally loved or loathed depending on the day - and the performance - by one of college hoops' most passionate fan bases.

Jeff Withey had 15 points and 11 rebounds while becoming the Big 12's career blocked shots leader, Elijah Johnson emerged from a season-long slump and No. 14 Kansas walloped Texas 73-47 on a festive Saturday night at Allen Fieldhouse. Johnson finished with 12 points for the Jayhawks (21-4, 9-3 Big 12). Travis Releford added 15 and Ben McLemore had 13, including a 360 jam in the closing minutes that capped off quite a show against the Longhorns (11-14, 3-9) for more than a dozen former players in attendance.

The Kansas City Chiefs have signed former Kansas defensive end Toben Opurum as an undrafted free agent after trying him out as a fullback during rookie minicamp. The Chiefs announced the move in a statement Friday. The 6-foot-1, 250-pound Opurum began his career with the Jayhawks as a running back, gaining 554 yards and scoring nine touchdowns during the 2009 season. He moved to linebacker as a sophomore and played defensive end the past two seasons, making 109 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks in his career.

Despite losing four of their top-five leading scorers from the 2010-11 Big 12 Champion squad, the Kansas Jayhawks earned five first-place votes en route to being voted to win the 2012 conference in the Big 12 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll, the conference office announced Thursday. Kansas will share the designation of being preseason favorite with Texas A&M. It marks the second time in league history (KU, Oklahoma State in 2004-05) that two squads tied for the top spot in the preseason poll.

Police at the University of Kansas in Lawrence are warning dorm residents about a peeping tom. There are three reports in recent weeks of a stranger going into women's restrooms, pulling back a shower curtain and watching women shower. Police say the incidents happened once at Hashinger Hall and twice at McCollum Hall. The news has students worried. Some say they are now using a buddy system, having friends watch the door while they shower. KU campus police say they have alerted the dorms.