SPORTS
JAYHAWKS LOOK TO CONTAIN AUGUSTIN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 10B
WOMEN'S TENNIS WINS AT HOME
PAGE 9B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2008
MEN'S BASKETBALL
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Hawks fail to make a single three
But in between now and then, the basketball Gods decided to implement a three-point line. And not many games since have better illustrated the difference it can make than Kansas' 100-90 victory against Baylor Saturday.
Play this game 28 years ago and Kansas would have put Baylor away from the beginning and cruised to an easy 100-78 victory.
To Kansas, Baylor was the gum on the shoe, the bothersome fruit-fly or the persistent street-side beggar; it just wouldn't go away. It stemmed from the Bears' efficiency from the outside.
"That's unbelievable," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "That's not going to happen very often."
The Bears made 12 three-pointers, accounting for 40% of their total points. The Jayhawks didn't hit a single shot beyond the arc.
Baylor junior guard Curtis Jerrells gave Kansas a sneak-peak of what was to come early in the game when he hit three three-pointers in less than four minutes. Jerrells, who scored 30 points overall and was 4-for-8 from three-point range, made his 1,000th career point in the game. If he shoots as well from long-range as he did Saturday, he might score 2,000 more in the next year and a half.
Jerrells' teammate, freshman LaceDarius Dunn, however, was the one making circus-like shots. Dunn connected on a deep three in the second half to tie the game despite being fouled by Kansas junior guard Brandon Rush. With little time remaining, he threw up a what-the-heck deep shot from well behind the line falling over that found the hoop and kept Baylor alive.
He finished 5-for-10 from three with a handful of ridiculous baskets. It looked like Dunn could have hit shots blindfolded or with a hand tied behind his back.
Kansas broke a streak of 270 straight games with at least one three pointer Saturday. It needs to start a new streak tonight.
Conventional or not, the shots kept Baylor in the game. Every time Kansas seemed to take control by piecing together a run, it blew away like a tissue in the wind with another three falling for the Bears.
The mere 10-point victory undermines what Self called the best offensive performance of the year for the Jayhawks. Sophomore guard Sherron Collins scored 17 points, the most he had in more than a month, by ferociously attacking the basket. Kansas amazingly only committed one turnover in the second half. But an 0-for-9 performance from three-point range kept the Jayhawks from running away from the Bears.
"The game just was going so fast," Collins said. "We didn't really realize we didn't hit a three at all."
It's all fun and games for Kansas because it hit the century-mark in points the old-fashioned way: getting close to the basket and finishing. But its drought on three-point shots will be anything but funny if it finds its way to Austin, Texas tonight.
Longhorn guards D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams won't let Collins blow past them. Texas forward Damion James won't sit idly by and watch Kansas for Darrell Arthur score 23 points as he did Saturday. Rush can't be 0-for-4 from three if the Jayhawks expect to beat the Longhorns.
Distance, differences can't break a bond
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
Chase Buford plops in front of the TV in the middle of his Jayhawker Towers apartment and inserts a FIFA soccer game into his XBOX.
He's tired from practice and can't wait to play online.
In another dorm room, 700 miles away in Austin, Texas, his online opponent is recovering from practice, too, and eager to play some soccer. He's Alexis Wangmene, Buford's adopted brother.
He doesn't seem like he's adopted though. They're brothers. After Buford's parents adopted Wangmee (pronounced wahn-MEN-ee) from Africa, Buford, a freshman walk-on, used basketball to ease Wangmee's homesickness as he struggled to learn English. Later, Buford gave him a love for preppy clothes and Rascal Flatts. Wangmee, who plays for Texas, taught Buford that he could become close to anyone, no matter where they're from.
SEE BROTHERS ON PAGE 7B
BASKETBALL
Photo courtesy of the University of Texas
Collins to continue performance
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
The old Sherron Collins tantalized opponents when he stood at the top of the key, dribbling the ball slowly between his legs with eyes gazing forward to the hoop.
His defenders knew a speed burst was coming. Collins could go left, or he could go right. Either way, his move would be fast, and the play would likely end with him beating his man to the rim.
That was the old Collins. The one who darted through holes and gaps like a Plinko chip. He hadn't been around since a November knee injury.
Finally, he was back at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday night, sparking Kansas in the second half of a 100-90 victory against Bavlor.
"Shady was terrific," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Russell was solid and played great, but Sherron the spark. In the second half he changed the pace of the game."
The comback was supposed to be complete a month ago.
Back then, Self announced that the old Collins was back. He had just scored 18 points against Loyola Maryland, his best game since returning in December from the injury. It wasn't the points that caught Self's attention, it was Collins' quadriceps muscles. He said Collins' quads were finally firing, meaning they were getting stronger and giving Collins some of his speed back.
Collins' productivity didn't last. He made just 10 of 30 field goals during the next four games, never reaching double-figure scoring and never getting more than three assists in a game.
Even on good nights, something wasn't right. Collins couldn't slice through the lane like he had as a freshman and earlier this season. It's not that he wasn't trying. His body just ached from the injuries.
"Sometimes your mind is telling you that you can still do it," Collins said, "but your body won't let you. Sometimes I just forced things and played conservative. I was still
tonight's game
Kansas at Texas The skinny: The Jayhawks try to beat DJ.J. Augustin and the Longhorns and win for the first time in Austin since 2002.
confident. I just knew sometimes I couldn't make those plays."
He could finally make them on Saturday night. On one play in the middle of the second half, Collins grabbed a rebound and sprinted down the court for a layup. It took just three seconds. He found Brandon Rush in transition before scoring on another contested layup on the next play. It was a 6-0 Kansas run and gave the layhawks a 67-56 lead.
"We needed a spark," he said. "It was just dead. Nobody was speaking up. We just needed a spark, and I just tried to come in and provide that."
Collins finished with 17 points and four assists and said his health was at 95 percent. He made a difference in the second half, but he wasn't the only one. Senior guard Russell Robinson and sophomore forward Darrell Arthur both had arguably their best games of the year.
Robinson had a season-high 22 points, and Arthur finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds. They combined to make 21 of 24 free throws, and the team hit 36 of 46 from the charity stripe for the game.
All the foul shots were necessary, too. Kansas didn't make a single three-pointer, going zero for nine from long range. It was the first time that happened in 270 games, a streak that dated back to February 2000. Control of the ball, highlighted by only one second half turnover, and the marksmanship from the foul line still allowed the Jayhawks to score 100 points.
SEE COLLINS ON PAGE 4B
lon Goerina/KANSAN
Sophomore guard Sherron Collins drives the lane between two Bear defenders during the second half. Collins finished with 17 points, 13 of which were during the second half. Collins shot 4-for-5 from the floor, made 5-for-7 from the free-throw line, and recorded four assists in the second half.
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Freshman center Krysten Boogaard battles Kansas State forward Marlies Gipson for possession of a rebound after a blocked shot by Gipson with 53 seconds left. The refs whistled Boogaard for a foul on the play. Gipson and Boogaard both led their teams in scoring with 20 points. Both also recorded double-doubles with Booraard grabbing 14 boards and Gipson 15.
Kansas has weak start, loses to rival K-State
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
"Our kids battled and showed some toughness to make it a game," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "We just didn't make enough plays on the offensive end and the defensive end to get out of here with a 'W'"
Records rarely matter in a rivalry game, and that sentiment held true Saturday afternoon as Kansas (13-9, 2-7) gave No. 18 Kansas State (16-6, 8-1) everything it could handle before finally bowing out, 64-58.
Kansas got off to a disastrous start — six turnovers in the first five minutes — before settling into its game.
She made three straight treys and finished the half 4-of-5, which included a last-second heave from the top of the key to put Kansas State up 30-24 at halftime.
"We tried to force some things early, picked up our dribble and just didn't play with much rhythm," Henrickson added.
The Wildcats also struggled to get points early, until senior guard Kimberly Dietz started firing up three-pointers.
Still, Henrickson was pleased with the way her team overcame the early turnovers and the production from her bench. Senior forward Jamie Boyd, who played just more than 27 minutes this season, drove the lane and made a short jumper just before Dietz answered with her buzzer-beater.
"Kids off the bench were great," Henrickson said. "Jamie Boyd's poise and composure to knock that thing down in the middle of the lane, that's big. It's only one play but it ended up being a one or two possession game there at the end."
Dietz made a layup to start the second half, but she missed all nine of her remaining shots. To compensate, junior forward Marlies Gipson took her game to another level, recording 14 points and 11 rebounds in the second half despite giving up five inches to her Kansas counterpart, freshman Krysten Booqard.
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"She's very quick, and she has a good vertical which was a little difficult." Boogaard said of Gipson. "She made some good plays, and I couldn't really keep her off the glass tonight."
SEE WILDCATS ON PAGE 9B
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