THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2008
KANSAS STATE 84, KANSAS 75
5B
中建四局水电二公司
Despite stutter-start, Beasly leads Cats to victory
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
MANHATTAN — For 11 minutes on Wednesday, K-State freshman Michael Beasley had people wondering.
This was the guy who was supposed to be the best player in the country?
For nearly 11 minutes, Kansas held Beasley scoreless. The Kansas defense swarmed Beasley and showed that the freshman All-American and offensive juggernaut wasn't immortal.
"It was tough, they defend as a team. As soon as I touched the ball, as soon as I stepped in the paint, there were three guys around me," Beasley said.
If only college basketball games were only 11 minutes long.
Beasley got in the score book on a fade-away baseline jump shot with 9:19 to play in the first half and never looked back.
The 6-foot-10 power forward finished with 25 points on nine-of-18 shooting, including a perfect four-of-four night from three-point range.
Beasley, who came into Wednesday's game averaging 25.3 points per game, helped K-State win a home game against Kansas for the first time since 1983. Still, Beasley downplayed his big night.
"It was just another game to me," he said.
"He scored pro points tonight," Self said.
Self said Beasley earned his 25 points.
Beasley sure didn't play like it.
Beasley's biggest shot came with four minutes left. His three-pointer from the wing with 4:15 left game the Wildcats at 67-57 lead.
"He's just a great player that made some tough shots." Kansas senior
After scoring eight points in the first half, Beasley showcased his full offensive repertoire in the second. First Beasley drove to the lane and hit a leaning left-handed shot on Sasha Kaun. A possession later he barreled into lane and finished off the glass. Whenever K-State needed a big shot, Beasley hit one.
"It's a hard match-up for anybody," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "You put a big guy on him and he goes four-of-four from three."
Beasley, who finished with only six rebounds, made sure to let everyone know he wasn't alone.
forward Sasha Kaun said.
"I knew my team was capable of beating anybody. We showed them tonight." Beasley said, while ribbing Pullen for his surprising stat line. "We just knocked a Final Four caliber team."
Bill Walker jumped in.
"I had a lot of help from my teammates," he said. Fellow Freshmen Bill Walker and Jacob Pullen had 22 and 20 points, respectively.
The three freshmen—along with senior Clent Stewart—sat together after the game and reflected on the historic victory.
"Did this victory mean something more for K-State?"
Then one question came, and for the first time all night, Beasley deferred. The young freshman who had an answer for Kansas all night was stumped.
"People act like there's one team in Kansas," Walker said. "We got a chance to show them there isn't."
the high/low
Taking Stock of the Kansas—K-State game
Bill Walker
Edited by Sam Lamb
Highs
Walker is often the forgotten man. But Walker was as big a reason for the Wildcats victory as Beasley. He scored 22 points and gave K-State a huge lift in the opening minutes as Beasley struggled.
K-State's Crowd
Commend the K-State student section — It was around 4,000 strong.
and Bramlage Coliseum was as loud as any college gym in the nation. The students practically blew the roof off the place in the final minutes.
Manhattan bar owners
Manhattan bar owners
Manhattan's bar district — Aggieville — probably experienced a night of record profit after the Wildcats upset.
Lows
K-State's Crowd
Sure it was loud, but K-State's crowd gets negative marks for its
constant booing and overly hostile tendencies.
Kansas Foul Trouble
Foul trouble on Darrell Arthur, Sasha Kaun and Mario Chalmers crippled the Jayhawk offense in the first half. Arthur, who scored 12 points, played only 17 minutes.
Kansas'rebounding
The Jahawks allowed K-State 16 offensive rebounds. Kansas might have been lucky that K-State only ended up with 10 second chance points.
Kansas State 84, Kansas 75
KANSAS
KANSAS
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs Pts
00 Darrell Arthur 5-12 0-0 7 12
32 Darnell Jackson 2-2 0-0 4 7
03 Russell Robinson 1-8 0-3 2 6
15 Mario Chalmers 5-9 2-4 1 19
25 Brandon Rush 6-10 3-7 7 15
04 Sherron Collins 5-11 1-3 0 12
05 Rodrick Stewart 1-1 0-0 2 2
10 Jeremy Case 0-0 0-0 0 0
14 Tyrel Reed 0-0 0-0 0 0
24 Sasha Kaun 1-1 0-0 3 2
45 Cole Aldrich 0-0 0-0 0 0
KANSAS STATE
Player FG-FGA 3FG-3FGA Rebs Pts
12 Bill Walker 9-18 3-10 5 22
30 Michael Beasley 9-18 4-4 6 25
05 Clent Stewart 3-5 2-3 5 11
23 Dominique Sutton 1-6 0-1 6 2
00 Jacob Pullen 4-9 2-5 0 20
31 Chris Merriewether 0-0 0-0 0 1
42 Darren Kent 0-4 0-2 4 0
50 Luis Colon 0-0 0-0 0 0
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K-State forward Michael Beasley dunks the ball during the second half. Beasley was the lead scorer of the game with 25 points in 38 minutes of play.
Joe Goering/ KANSEN
Sophomore guard Sherron Collins takes a shot in the lane between two Kansas State defenders. Collins finished with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting in 29 minutes.
Jon Goering/KANSAN