LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas coach Roy Williams, who feared his sixth-ranked Jayhawks might be "fat and happy," instead found them merely contented and plump.

Sluggish in their first action since winning the Great Alaska Shootout, the Jayhawks fumbled and stumbled against unranked Pepperdine on Thursday night before finally taking charge for a 76-61 victory.

	Kansas' Nick Collison beats Pepperdine's Kelvin Gibbs to a loose ball Thursday. With 12 points, Collison was one of three Jayhawks scoring in double figures.

"I tried to convince them this was a very good basketball team we were playing, that they were a hard team to play against," Williams said. "I don't think we realized that early. Then (Pepperdine) makes their first six shots and they have even more confidence. We were pretty ugly tonight."

Kenny Gregory and Nick Bradford helped the Jayhawks (5-0) get back on track in the second half by triggering a 16-3 run that turned a 39-37 deficit into a 53-42 lead.

"They came out ready for the challenge and we didn't," Kansas guard Luke Axtell said.

The heavily favored Jayhawks did not take the lead until Jeff Boschee's 3-pointer made it 21-20 with 7:05 left.

Forced into 14 turnovers by Pepperdine's alternating pressure defense, Kansas led only 33-30 at halftime and quickly fell behind 39-37 on a 3-pointer by Texale Archie.

But then Gregory and Bradford sparked the game-turning run against the Waves (3-2).

"They have the depth to wear teams down physically and we got worn down," Pepperdine coach Jan van Breda Kolff said. "We played an excellent defensive team."

The Jayhawks, 5-0 for the fifth time in six seasons, held their biggest lead at 67-52 before Pepperdine's Brandon Armstrong canned two straight 3-pointers. Then, with 3:48 left, Archie hit a 3-pointer that sliced the lead to 69-61.

Boschee then made three of four free throws over the next minute and Gregory moved in for a layup that brought the near-sellout crowd to its feet and gave Kansas a 74-61 lead. Gregory had 17 points for Kansas while Gooden and Nick Collison each had 12.

"We took them out of what they wanted to do offensively," Boschee said. "Our defensive pressure turned everything around and we got a run."

Kansas, 22-2 all-time against West Coast Conference teams, outrebounded the shorter Waves 41-26 and committed only six turnovers in the second half. But Pepperdine held the Jayhawks 19 points below the 95 they had been averaging.

Armstrong and Archie each scored 14 points for Pepperdine.

"We created 14 turnovers in the first half and six in the second half, so they might have made adjustments for our press," Archie said. "For the most part, it was us getting fatigued. They ran 10 or 12 guys in there who can all play and we ran out of gas."