6B GAME DAY THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2007 COUNTDOWN TO TIP-OFF KU TIP-OFF AT AGLANCE This is the second game against a Pac-10 opponent for Kansas this season. Kansas is a much more experienced team than the young Southern Cal Trojans. This game also features the first super freshman the Jayhawks will see this season in O.J. Mayo. The next is Kansas State's Michael Beasley. Stewart WHOTOWATCH TIME TO ELEVATE KU could struggle against star power KANSAS AT USC, 1 p.m. Sunday, The Galen Center, Los Angeles, FSN Rodrick Stewart, senior guard averages about 4.3 per game only Chalmers averages more. Stewart has shown he can pass, score and play good defense. He's by far the most improved player for Kansas this season, and he'll want to display that against his former team. QUESTION MARK Stewart threw eight assists and had no turnovers against Florida Atlantic Wednesday night. He Is James Dunleavy related to that former Duke star? HEARYE, HEARYE Yes. James is the younger brother of Mike Dunleavy Jr., who played on the 2001 Duke national championship team. Mike and James' father, Mike Sr., coaches the Los Angeles Clippers. Here's another question: Is James as good as Mike Jr? Well, that answer can't be determined yet, but it isn't unlikely he'll enjoy as successful of a career. James hasn't played yet this season. In high school, he averaged 2.5 points per game as a junior and couldn't play as a senior because of eligibility reasons. "You have to have some ins on a situation like that. And certainly, I think Lawrence is fabulous, and Kansas City is great. But it's not Hollywood. So I don't think we were in the mix." "We have to play through our big guys more in the low post. We're still not doing that. We missed them countless times in the first half. To me, it's a simple deal. You just get it and throw it to them, and it's the big guys' responsibility to catch it. We think way too much, and we have to get better at throwing in the post." —Kansas coach Bill Self on recruiting O.J. Mayo Bill Self after the Florida Atlantic game. Kansas 6-0 THE PROJECTED STARTING FIVE Russell Robinson, 6-foot-1 senior guard Robinson didn't get in any foul trouble against Florida Atlantic like he did against Arizona, but he still struggled. His scoring only three points against the Owls isn't a major concern, but his two assists should be. He needs to get the ball inside. Mario Chalmers, 6-foot-1 junior guard Some consistency would be nice. Chalmers scored all 11 of his points against Florida Atlantic in the first half. Against Arizona last Sunday, he scored the majority of his points in the game's final minutes. Rodrick Stewart, 6-foot-4 senior guard It's homecoming for Stewart, who played for the Trojans for one season before transferring to Kansas. His brother Lodrick, who was a senior last season, put on a show against Kansas when he scored 23 points. Rodrick will want to have a similar effort on Sunday. Darrell Arthur, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Arthur against TaJ Gibson will be a good match-up of two of the best sophomore forwards in the country, Gibson and Arthur have nearly the same game. Neither of them can bang, but they can leave the paint and consistently make turnaround jump shots. Darnell Jackson, 6-foot-8 senior forward Jackson will probably be in the starting lineup for a while, barring injury or a major lull in production. He needs to rebound better than he did against Florida Atlantic. Southern California is talented, but its frontcourt is undersized, just like Kansas' THE SIXTH MAN Brandon Rush, 6-foot-6 junior guard Brandon Rush, 6-2 (tour) Junior Guard Did you see the No. 2 play on Sportscenear's Top 107 it featured Rush getting stuffed while going up for a dunk against Florida Atlantic. Well, the good news is Self said Rush would be able to finish that play a month from now. Mark Dent THE GALEN CENTER WILL ROCK FOR KU IF... Southern California 5-1 THE PROJECTED STARTING FIVE It contains USC's other scorers aside from O.J. Mayo. Believe it or not, it might be better if Kansas lets Mayo gets his points. He scored only 13 in the Trojans' victory against Southern Illinois and that was the best USC played all season. Mayo is a great individual player, but he hasn't shown he can lead the team yet. The Trojans' other top players include Daniel Hackett, Taj Gibson, Davon Jefferson and Dwight Lewis. Any one of them could be USC's leading scorer. Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers will have a tough time guarding Hackett and Lewis. Both players have height advantages over the two Kansas guards, and Chalmers and Robinson will have to find a way to stop them. Daniel Hackett, 6-foot-5 sophomore guan. Mayo gets the attention, but Hackett may be USC's most valuable player so far. The sophomore is playing 33.8 minutes per game and averaging 12.8 points per game. Hackett is shooting an impressive 61 percent from the floor. Dwight Lewis, 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Lewis is a former Kansas recruit who verbally committed to the Jayhawks out of Archbishop Rummel High School in Louisiana. But Lewis had a change of heart, reopened his recruitment and chose USC. O.J. Mavo, 6-foot-5 freshman guard G. Mayo, 6-foot-5 freshman guard Mayo is a modern day tall-tail. His exploits have been documented since Mayo was a seventh grader starting on the varsity basketball team at Rose Hill Christian School in Ashland, Ky. Mayo will be the most talented player on the floor on Sunday, but Mayo might want to look across the court at Brandon Rush to see the most polished basketball player. Tai Gibson. 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Taj Gibson, 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Gibson flirted with the NBA Draft, but luckily for USC fans, he decided to come back to Los Angeles. Now Gibson, who's scoring 11.7 points per game, is giving USC a strong post player to go along with its group of guards. Kasey Cunningham, 6-foot-7 freshman forward Cunningham is playing 16.7 minutes per game in his freshman campaign.Cunningham, who red-shirted last season because of a knee injury, is out on the floor to pull down rebounds and hustle. THE SIXTH MAN Davon Jefferson, 6-foot-8 freshman forward Jefferson is the same age as Darrell Arthur, but he spent last season at a prep school to work on his academics. Jefferson was good friends with Mayo, and it was Mayo who convinced him to go to USC. PHOG ALLEN WILL ROLL OVER IN HIS GRAVE IF... Kansas gets blown out. That outcome Kansas gets blown out. That outcome is unlikely, but it could happen. Southern California crushed Southern Illinois, a team Kansas beat by three last year, on a neutral court. The Trojans have the offensive firepower to put up big numbers and big physical guards who can apply intense defensive pressure. About two weeks ago, Self said his team would probably elevate its play once the bigger games approached. That didn't happen against Arizona last Sunday. It has to happen against USC on Sunday or a blowout is a possibility. USC TIP-OFF AT AGLANCE If you think USC is just "The O.J. Mayo Show," think again. Yes, Mayo is leading the Trojans with 12.8 points per game, but 6-foot-9 sophomore forward TaJ Gibson can play a little bit, too. Hackett's scoring 12.8 points per game, and Gibson's adding 11.7. USC looked lost in its season opening 96-81 loss to Mercer, but the Trojans have turned it up a notch. USC is now 5-1 and No. 22 in the AP Top 25 poll. WHO TO WATCH It's O.J. Mayo, and it's not even close. This guy has been getting national publicity since he was in seventh grade. Mayo has a reputation as a malcontent, but he has been sensational in his first six games at USC, averaging 21.8 points per game. If the NBA allowed high school players to leave early for the draft, Mayo would probably be rotting on an NBA bench. Instead, Kansas fans have an opportunity to see Mayo battle with Kansas' talented stable of guards. Bill Self has been impressed." He will be the best player we have played this season, and that includes (Arizona's Chase) Budinger." Mayo QUESTION MARK Will USC's inexperience show on Sunday? The Trojans start three sophomores and two freshmen. Sure, they will be playing at home, but can a team this young hang with an experienced Kansas team in a close game? Kansas has played its way past freshmen-led teams before. Twice last year, Kansas fell behind to Kevin Durant's Texas team, and twice Kansas rallied to win. It might not be wise to expect that younger O.J. Mayo can lead USC to a victory against a top five team this early in his career. HEARYE, HEARYE "Anybody that beats Southern Illinois by 25 on a neutral floor and scores 70 (is good). And you say 'only 70?' but they (SU) have only given up 70 points three times in their last 50 games. And a 25-point win agains Southern Illinois, as our fans know from last year, is like a 40-45 win against anybody else." Bill Self on Kansas' opponent on Sunday. USC. JAYHAWK STATS | Player | MPG | FG-FGA | 3FG-FGA | RPG | PPG | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 04 Collins, Sherron | 27.5 | 12-23 | 4-13 | 3.5 | 16.0 | | 00 Arthur, Darrell | 25.3 | 35-64 | 1-4 | 5.8 | 14.5 | | 15 Chalmers, Mario | 28.2 | 26-47 | 11-23 | 2.5 | 12.2 | | 25 Rush, Brandon | 20.8 | 17-36 | 8-16 | 3.5 | 11.8 | | 32 Jackson, Darnell | 21.5 | 26-41 | 2-4 | 5.3 | 11.2 | | 24 Kaun, Sasha | 19.2 | 19-24 | 0-0 | 4.5 | 8.0 | | 05 Stewart, Rodrick | 20.0 | 17-28 | 2-8 | 3.0 | 7.3 | | 03 Robinson, Russell | 27.2 | 13-33 | 7-23 | 3.0 | 7.2 | | 02 Teahan, Conner | 5.8 | 8-11 | 8-10 | 0.5 | 6.5 | | 14 Reed, Tyrel | 12.4 | 10-17 | 7-12 | 0.8 | 5.4 | | 45 Aldrich, Cole | 10.2 | 8-13 | 0-0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | | 10 Case, Jeremy | 8.0 | 6-14 | 2-8 | 0.5 | 2.3 | | 11 Bechard, Brennan | 2.8 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | | 22 Buford, Chase | 2.5 | 0-5 | 0-4 | 0.8 | 0.0 | | 54 Kleinmann, Matt | 3.8 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | | 40 Witherspoon, Brad | 2.3 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | PREDICTION 73-69 USC TROJAN STATS Kansas had a subpar offensive outing in its first big game of the year last weekend and still escaped with a victory. The Jayhawks won't be lucky enough to do it again on the road. Witherspoon Meter Will senior walk-on Brad Witherspoon get the opportunity to play Sunday? This meter tells all.
PlayerMPGFG-FGA3FG-FGARPGPPG
32 Mayo, OJ36.048-9719-454.821.8
13 Hackett, Daniel33.822-366-94.212.8
22 Gibson, Taj32.824-500-09.311.7
21 Lewis, Dwight31.523-504-132.210.7
05 Jefferson, Davon19.711-160-03.310.7
01 Johnson, Angelo23.511-275-122.05.7
43 Cunningham, Kasey16.79-140-03.03.5
23 Wilkinson, Keith9.83-120-22.81.4
33 Cromwell, RouSean8.51-10-01.51.0
00 Austin, Kyle18.00-00-00.00.0
02 Wetherell, Ryan3.80-30-10.50.0
20 Simmons, Marcus5.50-10-02.50.0
30 Green, Terence1.00-00-00.00.0