Tre White Scores 22, Tyran Stokes Adds 15 in Debut as No. 17 Kansas Pulls Away From Fordham 95-65

Allen Fieldhouse got its first look at the most hyped freshman in the country, but the player who ran the show was a veteran. Tre White scored 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, Tyran Stokes added 15 in his college debut, and No. 17 Kansas shook off a scrappy, three-happy Fordham team to win 95-65 on Monday night in Lawrence.

The final margin looks comfortable. For about 27 minutes, it was not. Fordham trailed just 54-48 with 13:27 left before Kansas finally put its foot down with a 19-3 run that turned a ballgame into a blowout. The win extended the Jayhawks' streak of home-opener victories to 54, and it came after a preseason in which Kansas dropped exhibitions to No. 2 Duke and No. 11 Louisville at the Phog. Bill Self needed a clean start. This was clean enough.

A Fast Start, Then a Fight

Kansas looked like a top-20 team early. The Jayhawks ripped off a 16-1 run in the first half, Fordham went cold and missed 10 straight shots, and Kansas led by double figures inside the first 12 minutes. White did most of the early damage, scoring 13 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting.

But the Rams never went away, and the reason was the three-point line. Fordham finished 13-of-33 from deep, and once the shots started falling, a 16-point Kansas lead shrank. The Jayhawks shot 53.6 percent in the first half and still only led 43-31 at the break, mostly because the offense got loose with the ball and the perimeter defense kept losing shooters.

The second half opened with more of the same. Self called an early timeout, and Fordham strung together a 10-2 run to cut it to 54-48 with 13:27 to play. The building was getting restless.

The 19-3 Answer

That is when Kansas reminded everyone why it is ranked. The Jayhawks scored seven straight points in about a minute, then kept going. By the time the burst ended, it was 19-3 and Kansas led 73-51 with 8:47 left. Fordham never threatened again.

The run came the way Self's best teams usually win games: at the rim and in transition. Kansas outscored Fordham 46-12 in the paint and 23-6 on the fast break, and the Jayhawks shot 58.3 percent for the night (35 of 60). The glass was another mismatch, 50-33 in Kansas' favor, with Keanu Dawes grabbing a team-high nine rebounds in 15 minutes and Paul Mbiya pulling down six in just four.

Stokes Arrives, Kaufman-Renn Debuts

All eyes were on Stokes, the top recruit in the country, and the freshman was productive without being spectacular. Stokes finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and seven rebounds in 25 minutes, attacking the rim and drawing contact. The free throw line was a different story at 4-of-7, and he also turned it over four times. The talent is obvious. The polish is still coming, which is exactly what you would expect from a first college game.

The other debut brought the loudest moment of the night. Trey Kaufman-Renn, the former All-Big Ten forward from Purdue, sat out the exhibitions because of his eligibility situation. He checked in at the 16:18 mark of the first half to "T-K-R" chants from the student section and scored 13 seconds later. Kaufman-Renn finished with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and five rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench, giving Kansas a physical frontcourt scorer it did not have in the preseason.

Leroy Blyden Jr., a transfer from Toledo, was arguably the most efficient Jayhawk not named White. Blyden scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, hit two threes and did not commit a turnover in 26 minutes. Melvin Council Jr., back in Lawrence, filled up the box score with 10 points, six rebounds and a team-high seven assists.

White, Council and Kaufman-Renn are among the players who won court injunctions against the NCAA for another year of eligibility, and the trio combined for 41 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Kansas built its roster around experience plus one elite freshman, and on opening night the experience did most of the heavy lifting.

The Warning Signs

A 30-point win does not erase the sloppy stretches. Kansas committed 17 turnovers, four apiece from Stokes and Council, and Fordham turned those mistakes into 23 points, matching the Jayhawks' own total off turnovers. The Rams also won the second-chance battle 12-8 despite being outrebounded by 17. Those numbers hint at a team that still has to clean up its effort and focus on loose balls, and the two primary ball handlers in Stokes and Council have to take better care of it before the schedule gets serious.

The free throw shooting was ugly, too. Kansas went 16-of-30 at the line, and that 53 percent mark would cost a game against a ranked opponent. Taylen Kinney, one of the new guards in the starting lineup, also struggled, going 1-of-5 for five points in 24 minutes.

The perimeter defense is the bigger concern. Fordham got 13 threes from a team that shot 31.9 percent overall. When the Rams were not shooting threes, they had almost nothing, with just 12 points in the paint all night. That is a clear scouting report: run Kansas off the line, and the Jayhawks can be stretched.

Fordham's Shooters Made It Interesting

Mike Magpayo's Rams, in year two of the Magpayo era in the Bronx, deserve credit for making a top-20 team sweat. Akira Jacobs led the way with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a career-high five threes on six attempts. Lateef Patrick Jr. added 13 points with three triples, Hassan Koureissi scored 10, and Jack Whitbourn hit both three-point tries for eight points off the bench.

The problem was the rest of the shot chart. Amir Lindsey handed out seven assists but shot 1-of-12, and Rikus Schulte, who averaged 10.7 points last season, managed just two on 1-of-7 shooting. Fordham's 12 steals kept the Rams in it, but they could not keep Kansas out of the lane once the game sped up.

For an Atlantic 10 team opening at one of the sport's cathedrals, there were positives to take home. The Rams went back to the Bronx to begin a three-game homestand.

What It Means for Kansas

Self has a deep, veteran roster with a potential top pick at the center of it, and the opener showed both sides of that coin. When Kansas played downhill and defended the arc, it was overwhelming. When it got careless, a mid-major hung around for most of a half.

The good news is the depth. Nine Jayhawks scored at least four points, including quick-hitting bench cameos from Trent Perry and Dennis Parker Jr., the bench outscored Fordham's 41-26, and Self has plenty of combinations to play with once Kaufman-Renn is fully up to speed. The bad news is that the two exhibition losses were not a total fluke: this group still turns it over too often.

Next up is Middle Tennessee at Allen Fieldhouse on Friday, the Jayhawks' last home game until Nov. 23.

The Take

Kansas got the win, the streak and a glimpse of what Stokes and Kaufman-Renn can add. White was the best player on the floor, Blyden looked like a smart pickup, and the paint was Kansas territory all night. But 17 turnovers, 14 missed free throws and 13 Fordham threes are a reminder that this team is still a work in progress. The talent says Final Four contender. The details say November.

Check the official box score (opens in a new tab) for the full numbers.

Sources: Kansas Athletics, ESPN, Associated Press, Field Level Media, Sports Illustrated, Fordham Athletics. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Fordham Athletics.