SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
K-STATE ASSISTANT ARRESTED FOR DUI PAGE 2B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FACES OFF AGAINST ISU PAGE 4B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4,2008
A ROCKY START
PAGE 1B
High times and low steals for Kansas in second-half victory
Confidence boost prepares team for tough Missouri game
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
BOULDER, Colo. — The intensity and furor that Kansas showed in the nonconference season and early Big 12 play felt like a distant memory in the game's first 20 minutes. A loss to, gasp, Colorado, seemed like a possibility.
Kansas Coach Bill Self didn't want his team to lose its second straight game, especially to the dismal Buffalooes.
"No one is going to throw you a pity party because you lost a game," Self said to his team at the half with the game tied at 30.
And no one had to. Kansas (21-1, 6-1)
won 72-59, using an 8-0 run to open
the second half, and put it away with an 11-2 run
late in the game on Saturday.
Collins and the other guards needed the talk the most.
"I think coach changed it at halftime," sophomore guard Sherron Collins said. "We came out with more energy and changed it from there."
They just weren't pressuring the ball like they used to. Earlier this season, guards Collins, Brandon Rush, Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers stole as easy as Danny Ocean's crew. On Saturday, though, they had about as much success with theft as the wet bandits from "Home Alone."
KU's defense didn't steal the ball once in the first half, and the defensive woes went far deeper than that. Colorado's guards got almost any shot they wanted. Richard Roby made his first four shots, and Cory Higgins made all five of his in the first 20 minutes. They outplayed Collins, Rush and Chalmers, who scored a combined 10 points on four of 10 field goals.
Chalmers blamed the altitude, Collins talked about overall flatness. Rush said the team just wasn't focused. Whatever it was, Self wasn't happy. He told them Colorado scored half of its points on plays they had scouted. Then, he used the pity party line to really wake them up, and it worked.
"I think we just got used to the atmosphere," Chalmers said, "and we wanted it more."
Collins, Rush and Chalmers scored 22 points on eight of 13 shooting in the final
20 minutes, Roby and Higgins scored just 12, and all of them were Roby's. Chalmers sparked the early 8-0 run with two steals.
"I think they felt like they had something to prove," Self said.
It's a good thing Kansas found its stride in the second half. The Jayhawks will need to be playing at a high level tonight against the Tigers.
Today's game against Missouri could be far more challenging than it seemed a few days ago. Back then the Tigers were reeling from the suspensions of Stefon Hannah, Leo Lyons, Darryl Butterfield, Jason Horton and Marshall Brown for staying out past their midnight curfew at a Columbia, Mo, bar, and they lost to Nebraska at home.
Missouri erased some of those bad memories on Saturday. The Tigers, who reinstated Brown and Lyons, beat Kansas State, becoming the first conference team to top the Wildcats. There's no word on whether Butterfield or Horton will be able to play tonight. Hannah, who broke his jaw at the bar last week, will be definitely be out.
"He is what makes them go," Robinson said. "He's the point guard on that team, and he keeps them together. He's a big scoring option."
Still, the absence of Hannah won't make it easy. K-State already found that out, and the lajhayws struggled against Missouri two weeks ago.
Other than Kansas State and Colorado for a half, Missouri has been the only conference team to give Kansas trouble. Self said the Tigers' guards played some of the best defense he had seen all season. They kept Missouri close the entire game before the Jayhawks finally won by six. Last year at Allen Fieldhouse, Missouri led Kansas most of the game before losing by three.
Suspensions or no suspensions, the game is going to be tough.
"You can find out a lot about teams when they've gone through adversity." Self said. "And obviously, Missouri's risen to the occasion."
Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
junior guard Mario Chalmers dunks a basket in Saturday's victory against Colorado. Kansas pulled it together in the second half with a final score of 72-59.
》 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs, sophomore guard Kelly Kohn and freshman guard Chakeitha Weldon anxiously watch as freshman forward Nicoletta Smith tries to seal the victory from the free throw line with two seconds left and Kansas up S3-50. Smith missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but the Cyclones failed to give a final three-point attempt off to tie the game. Kansas defeated Iowa State and improved to 2-6 in the Big 12 while the Cyclones fell to 2-5 in the conference.
Turnovers down, women secure win
The game plan early in Kansas'tilt with Iowa State was obvious, get the ball to center Krysten Boogaard.
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
The freshman has excelled recently and Saturday night she put the team on her back and carried them to a 53-50 victory.
"We just have to get her more touches because she is a quality, low-post option for us," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "She is playing with a lot of confidence."
Boogaard finished with 20 points, re-
bounds, three blocks and two steals.
Over the last five games, Boogaard is averaging 11.6 ppg, 7 rpg, 2.6 bpg. Saturday
Shortly after that, though, Booqear went to the bench for a rest and Iowa State took advantage with a 15-4 run to go up 25-21 at halftime.
Cyclone guard Alison Lacey was the motor behind that run, recording 11 points and an assist.
night she scored 13 of the Jayhawks first 17 points, pacing them to a 17-10 lead.
Kansas (13-8, 2-6) helped out Iowa State (13-7, 2-5) by turning the ball over 14 times in the first half.
"We've struggled to get these kids to understand that you give yourself a chance if you don't turn it over," Henrickson said. "At least let us
60
SEE TURNOVERS ON PAGE 3B
The rules of the road welcome a Missouri victory
COMMENTARY
Kansas State sat on top of the Big 12 men's basketball standings. It was undefeated in conference and one game ahead of Kansas after breaking "The Streak" in Manhattan with an amazing display of willpower. I'm sure that in the back of many KU minds was, "What if the Wildcats really are that good? They could win the big 12." The thought had at least crossed my mind.
Admit it. You were cheering for Missouri on Saturday when the Tigers played Kansas State. It's OK. I let my guard down, too, and was eager to see every Missouri basket during its 14-point comeback in the second half.
But it isn't so easy to play on the road. is
"All this is, is the first time a bunch of freshmen are playing in this arena," Martin said. "We played a good team; we didn't play a bad basketball team. They battled through some adversity. Give their players
Does it mean Missouri is better than Kansas State? No. Just as when Kansas State defeated Kansas on Wednesday, it didn't mean the Wildcats were better than the Jayhawks.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The victory for the Tigers was even more remarkable considering that three players remained indefinitely suspended, and leading scorer Stefhon Hannah was injured with a broken jaw. Who knew they could pull it off?
Well, anyone who knows much about college hoops. It really is much tougher to play on the road. Even if a team is outmatched, the home side at least has a decent possibility to win.
"They protected their home court, which is what you have to do be a good basketball team." Kansas State head coach Frank Martin said after his team's 77-74 loss to Mizzou.
it, K-State?
Away-game
Big 12 Conference Road Records Team Conference Road Record
Team Conference Road Record
Kansas 2-1
Kansas State 2-1
Baylor 2-1
Missouri 1-2
Texas 1-2
Texas A&M 1-2
Nebraska 1-2
Oklahoma 1-2
Texas Tech 0-3
Colorado 0-3
Iowa State 0-4
Oklahoma State 0-4
"Here's the deal!" Martin said. "You want to play Missouri on the road, you better not turn the basketball over. We turned it over. We had I think either 10 or 11 turnovers in the second half. We do that on offense and then just don't defend, we've got no chance to win."
And maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the 12,000-plus fans screaming their lungs out for Missouri. It has to be easier to make up for a stupid turnover when the home crowd is behind you and harder to do so when you feel the crowd's adversity all game.
some credit. They stuck together, they dealt with it and then they came out today and played like the team they're capable of."
Missouri's Keon Lawrence celebrates in the crowd after it defeated Kansas State 77-74 Saturday in Columbia, Mo. Missouri had an unusual amount of Kansas support for the victory, which knocked K State down to a 5-1 Big 12 record, while Kansas's victory against Colorado moved the Jayhawks to 6-1 and back to the top of the conference standings after a brief stint in second place following a loss to the Wildcats Wednesday.
So the next time you hear about an "upset" on the road, don't put too much stock into it.
After browsing through the KUsporns.com message boards, I liked the way user WaHawk04 sarcastically put it: "After today's game, I think it is obvious that Missouri is a better basketball team than KSU. Also, Mike Anderson is a better coach than Frank Martin. Same logic has to apply to all games, right?"