LAWRENCE
Kansas coach Bill Self likes to say that the nonconference season is for testing, for teaching, for experimenting and for learning.
If there was something to be learned on Tuesday night, as No. 2 Kansas iced UC Irvine with a relentless second-half run, it was this: It takes a leather hide and a steel chin to play basketball for Self, and his latest Kansas team is learning how to take a punch.
The Jayhawks did just that in their final tuneup before Big 12 play, hopping off the mat after a sloppy first half, and delivering a flurry of body blows in a decisive second for a 78-53 win.