KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Josh Jackson has been huddling with the Kansas coaching staff since the start of the season, and the message has been the same: If you quit fouling so much, you would say on the floor more.The sensational freshman must have finally listened.Jackson poured in 22 points, many of them on highlight-worthy dunks, while backcourt mates Frank Mason III and Devonte Graham helped carry the load as fifth-ranked Kansas routed Alabama-Birmingham 83-63 on Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.Me committing silly fouls take me out of the game, and dont allow me to play as much as Id like, said Jackson, who also had seven rebounds and three assists. It worked out today.Mason finished with 20 points and Graham had 16 for the Jayhawks (3-1), who advanced to play Georgia for the title on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs beat George Washington 81-73 in the other semifinal.Kansas raced to a big early lead, weathered several runs by UAB, then relied on their backcourt of Jackson, Mason and Graham to pull away from the Blazers down the stretch.Theyre very good. Theyre obviously one of the best teams in the country, UAB coach Robert Ehsan said. When they shoot it like that, theyre very hard to beat.Dirk Williams led the Blazers (2-2) with 13 points. Tyler Madison had 12.The Blazers got off to what looked like it would be a catastrophic start, turning the ball over seven times and missing their first 11 field-goal attempts. Their only points over the first 10 minutes came on foul shots, and by the time they finally hit the Jayhawks led 23-3.They started off really shooting it bad, and we defended pretty well, Kansas coach Bill Self said, but I didnt think our defense was very good the last 30 minutes. I thought it was average at best.The Blazers took advantage with a run of their own.They ripped off a 17-2 run over the next 6 minutes as the Jayhawks missed seven straight shots of their own, and they quieted a partisan crowd by getting within 27-20 late in the half.If that didnt make Self irate, the way Kansas ended it did. Graham hit a 3-pointer with 5 seconds to go, but UAB went coast-to-coast for a buzzer-beating basket to deflate the Jayhawks.We were exciting going into halftime, Ehsan said. I thought if we could make a run in the second half, we would have a shot. But theyre Kansas for a reason.The teams resumed trading runs early in the second half before the Jayhawks began pulling, and four 3-pointers by Svi Mykhailiuk -- who finished with 15 points -- helped put the game out of reach.We played really well. I think everybodys mind was right, Graham said. We came in focused, just trying to do the little things weve been watching on film that we hadnt been doing well.Jackson added an exclamation mark with just over four minutes left, taking a pass in the open floor and throwing down a windmill dunk while getting fouled for a three-point play.Hes an extremely talented player. His versatility is what Ive been surprised with, how many things he can do on the floor, Ehsan said. Hes a tremendous player.CHARITY STRIPESelf was plenty unhappy with the foul line at both ends of the floor. Kansas sent UAB there 26 times while going just 9 of 19 at its own end. We have to figure out a way to get to the free-throw line, he said, and when we do, itd be nice when we made some every now and then. Were putting people on the line too much and giving people too many free points.BIG PICTUREUAB showed some moxie in rallying from its big early hole, even the Jayhawks never led by fewer than five the rest of the way. It had to be encouraging for first-year coach Robert Ehsan, who is trying to get the Blazers back into the NCAA Tournament this year.Kansas looked tired at times from a brutal start to the season. The Jayhawks played Indiana in Hawaii, Duke in New York and Siena at home on Friday night. The grind continues with the CBE Classic title game before another home game against UNC-Asheville on Friday night.UP NEXTUAB plays in the consolation game Tuesday night.Kansas plays the Bulldogs for the tournament Cheap Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim. Cheap Blue Jackets Jerseys China . 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HOUSTON -- Three contests into a five-game road trip that represents their second longest of the season, the Toronto Raptors remain one of the most lethal offensive teams in the NBA.Defensively the Raptors are sieve, and their issues on that end of the court continue to undermine their offensive might.Despite averaging 113 points over their last five games, the Raptors (8-6) lost for the fourth time during that stretch on Monday night when they fell 123-115 to the Clippers in Los Angeles. Toronto is 4-4 over its last eight games, a span in which each opponent has scored at least 102 points.Toronto ranks 24th in defensive rating, surrendering 109.2 points per 100 possessions and is allowing opponents a 51.2 effective field goal percentage that ranks 22nd.It seems like everybody weve played the last couple weeks weve turned it into an offensive slugfest, Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. Until we get defense in the game and maintain in the game (things will remain the same). I think our guys are trying. Theyre trying defensively but were not getting it done. Were not getting stops when we need to.There was some concern that the Raptors would struggle initially following the loss of center Bismack Biyombo during the offseason. Biyombo helped anchor a Toronto team that finished 11th in defensive rating last season before signing with the Orlando Magic. Without his rim protection, the Raptors havent quite been the same collectively, an issue that is also related to their individual defensive ability.I think we all can play better defense and thats something we can hold ourselves accountable for, Raptors guuard Kyle Lowry said.ddddddddddddI think we all want to be a better individual defender but we have to do it as a team. Its a lot of guys in this league that you pretty much cant guard one-on-one. You have to have five guys or 10 eyes on him.Its part of your game. Weve got to get better.The Rockets (9-5) improved to 3-0 since guard Patrick Beverley returned from preseason knee surgery with their 99-96 win at Detroit on Monday night. That victory marked the first time in eight games that Houston failed to score at least 100 points, but their developing cohesion continues to carry them through trials.Guard James Harden has played so exceptionally this season that nitpicking his flaws might soon become a necessary method of analysis. Harden is averaging 28.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 12.4 assists this season but his 81 percent shooting at the free-throw line represents his worst mark since his rookie season when he shot 80.8 percent with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009-10. Over his first four seasons with Houston, Harden shot 86.1 percent from the free-throw line.After starting the Pistons game 10 for 10 at the charity stripe, Harden missed 5 of 9 free throws down the stretch to keep the game interesting. Over his last four games Harden is shooting just 73.9 percent from the line.I had to laugh it off. Its funny, Harden said. But we all have games like this. Just cant let it happen consistently. Ive got to take my time, go up there and concentrate, and make the free throw. ' ' '