KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Brandon Rush had three good reasons to be pumped.
Kansas' All-Big 12 guard was making his first start of the year, signaling a successful recovery from knee surgery that kept him out of the NBA Draft.
His team was making its first appearance in a gleaming new arena. And this was all happening about five minutes from the neighborhood where he grew up as a local playground legend.
"I was motivated," Rush said with a big smile.
With Rush making his first three 3-pointers and helping Mario Chalmers spark a 19-0 run in the opening minutes, the third-ranked Jayhawks remained unbeaten Saturday with an 88-51 rout of Ohio in their debut in Kansas City's Sprint Center.
The Jayhawks' leading scorer each of the past two seasons, Rush had been easing back into action. For the first time all season, the Jayhawks had their preferred starting lineup on the floor at the opening tipoff.
"The guys played pretty well," said coach Bill Self. "We had some athletic plays."
Rush cooled off a bit after his hot beginning but still wound up with 13 points and three assists as Kansas went to 10-0 for the 11th time in school history.
In another good sign for the Jayhawks, spark plug guard Sherron Collins made his second appearance after missing six games while healing a stress fracture in his foot. Four Jayhawks scored in double figures as the defending Big 12 champions blew past an Ohio team that had won four straight and was fresh off a 61-55 victory at Maryland.
"We've got everybody back and everybody is healthy," said Rush. "We are starting to play good basketball right now. It felt good to be home for the first time in about a year."
The Bobcats (6-3) tried several different defenses in a futile effort to stop the Kansas onslaught while a sellout crowd in the 18,500-seat arena roared.
"We were pretty much overmatched at every position," said Ohio coach Tim O'Shea. "I've watched a lot of basketball this year and from a talent standpoint, if you're talking future NBA players, Kansas might have the most out of anybody."
Chalmers had 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Darrell Arthur added 14 points for Kansas.
The Jayhawks led 46-20 at the end of the first half and quickly built the lead to 60-28 on consecutive 3-pointers by Russell Robinson and Collins and Sasha Kaun's dunk.
The Bobcats came into the game with four players scoring in double figures but every starter was held below his season average. Bert Whittington's 10 points led Ohio.
Kansas outrebounded the visitors from the Mid-American Conference 46-27.
With Kansas wearing its bright red uniforms and the Bobcats in green, the two teams lent a bright seasonal look to the glistening new arena, which is only about 30 minutes from the Kansas campus across the state line.
The Jayhawks, basking in the loud and energetic support they always get in Kansas City, won their 27th straight regular-season game here and raised their all-time record in KC to 185-75.
Arthur, the Jayhawks' leading scorer this season, had eight rebounds to go with his 14 points while Darnell Jackson had 11 points and another eight rebounds.
Robinson, a senior guard, had 11 assists. The quicker Jayhawks had 26 points off 17 turnovers and blocked seven shots the shorter Bobcats put up.
In winning six of their first eight, the Bobcats had compiled a plus-42 rebound margin, but aside from Leon Williams, who had 11 rebounds, no Bobcat other than Jerome Tillman had more than six.
"We tried to hang with them, but our strength is inside and their strength is all the way around," said Ohio guard Bubba Walther. "They just took away our strength. There was one possession in the first half when (Kansas) had four rebounds. When we beat Maryland, we got every loose ball, every rebound.
"To go along with their talent and their size, if they were going to outrebound us, they were going to blow us out, and they did."
