No. 6 Kansas 90, Tenn-Chattanooga 76

No. 6 Kansas 90, Tenn-Chattanooga 76
By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Bill Self won in his Kansas coaching debut after replacing Roy Williams, and the No. 6 Jayhawks overcame a slow start to beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 90-76 Friday night.
Keith Langford scored 24 points and Wayne Simien had 21 points and eight rebounds for Kansas, coming off consecutive appearances in the Final Four under Williams.
Williams returned home to take over North Carolina and Self moved after three seasons at Illinois.
Self had some anxious moments in the early going as Tennessee-Chattanooga took a 24-14 lead.
The Mocs, who return three starters and seven lettermen from the team that finished 21-9 last year, dominated the first 10 minutes, outscoring and outrebounding their taller hosts from the Big 12.
Ashley Champion's 3-pointer put the Mocs up by 10 and silenced the sellout crowd of 16,300.
But the Jayhawks ended the first half on a 28-6 tear and took a 42-30 halftime lead en route to their 31st straight season-opening win.
David Padgett, the 6-foot-11 centerpiece of a highly touted freshman class, was scoreless the first half but scored five of the first 10 points of the second half and wound up with a double-double -- 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Padgett also had five blocked shots, one short of Kansas' freshman record as the Jayhawks led by as many as 20 in the second half.
Simien, a 6-9 junior who missed most of last year with a separated shoulder, had 13 points in the second half and was 7-for-7 from the foul line.
After Champion's 3-pointer midway through the first half, Jeff Hawkins hit a short jumper, Simien scored inside and Aaron Miles stole the ball at midcourt and drove in for a layup.
Miles, a junior who has started every game of his Kansas career at point guard, had 12 points and eight assists, boosting his career assists total to 504.
Jason Rogan had 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Mocs (0-1) and Champion had 20 points.