6B --- SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12.2007 MEN'S BASKETBALL WRAP-UP MEN'S (CONTINUED FROM 1B) Sunday night when it made only 10 of 31. Those free throws, offensive mistakes and solid UMKC shooting all kept the Kangaroos in the game. Maybe Kansas didn't show enough of a killer instinct, maybe UMKC played a great game. Or like Self said, it was probably a little bit of both. "I wasn't real pleased with everything," he said. "But it was good for us to play against a team that changed defense and did a lot of different things with short preparation and have to respond to that." - Edited by Kaitlyn Syring Kangaroo defense pesters Jayhawks BY RUSTIN DODD rdodd@kansan.com This wasn't Kansas against Louisiana-Monroe. On Friday, Kansas opened its season with a 107-78 victory, and it was 40 minutes of fun and gun; a track meet on basketball floor; one of those "Pick your SportsCenter Top 10 moment" games. No, Kansas' 85-62 victory against UMKC was something different. From the opening tip, UMKC played the role of annoying gnat. The Kangarooos pestered the Jayhawks all game long with an assortment of elbows, scratches and slaps — mixing in a hard foul every few minutes for good measure. Yep, it was certainly different as the Friday night highlights were replaced by Sunday night floor burns. "Anytime a team tries to come in and punk you on your home court, you got to go in there and try to be physical with them, and that's what we do," Chalmers said. Tempers certainly trained against UMKC. The Kangaroos only committed 22 fouls, a number that could have been higher, but they bogged down the KU big men with a swarming 2-3 zone and made a point to put a body on every Kansas player that ventured into the paint. Junior guard Mario Chalmers, who fueled the jayhawk offense with 23 points, also summed up the team's strategy for dealing with harassing opponents. "I thought, truthfully, we outhustled them," UMKC coach Matt Brown said. The on-court confrontations between Kansas and UMKC never went over the edge, but when a UMKC player bumped senior guard Russell Robinson in the first half, several layhawks, including senior forward Darnell jackson, rushed to Robinson's defense. "They were competitive. We were competitive," Robinson said. "Anytime you get two competitive teams out there, there's going to be a little animosity. And that what it was today, but it was all in good spirits." And after Kansas' high-flying aerial battle on Friag, a tough, grind-it out game might have been just what the jayhawks needed. Kansas was 20-0 last season when scoring 80 points and an impressive, yet more modest 13-5 when held under the 80-point benchmark. Kansas struggled last season against hard-nosed physical teams like Southern Illinois, UCLA and Texas A&M — teams that pride themselves on their defense. Kansas lost to UCLA 69-55 in last year's Elite Eight and fell 69-66 to Texas A&M in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks barely squeaked by the brutish defense of Southern Illinois, winning 61-58 in the Sweet 16. Kansas did top 80 points against UMKC, and while the Jayhawks will face much more athletic defenses than the one UMKC put forth, they will be hard-pressed to find a team that matches the Kangaroos' intensity. "It was good for us to sweat and to play under some duress," Kansas coach Bill Self said. Edited by Matt Erickson Anna Faltermeier Basketball notes Sophomore guard Sherron Collins goes up in the paint while closely guarded by UMKC players Sunday evening in Allen Fieldhouse. WHERE'S COLE? Freshman center Cole Aldrich didn't enter the game until only three minutes remained in the second half. It might have been surprising given that he scored six points Friday night, but Kansas Aldrich coach Bill Self had his reasons. He didn't think Aldrich was ready to play with UMKC's big men, who consistently move out to the three-point line in its wide open offense. A BETTER DEFENSE UCLA was the only team to shoot better than 50 percent last year against Kansas. Louisiana-Monroe did that in the first game of the season Friday night. Self wasn't pleased. Sunday against UMKC, the Jayhawks did better, allowing the Kangaroos to shoot 43 percent, but Self said there was still plenty of room for improvement. "When they beat us tonight it was because we were not as sound as we should be in some areas," Self said. "They also ran a good offense, too, Senior center Sasha Kaun maneuvers around a UMKC player during the first half of the game in Fieldhouse Sunday night. Anna Faltermeier/KANSAN DARRELL ARTHUR'S OFF NIGHT and made some tough shots." "We all have a long ways to go" he said. "He missed a couple of bunnies and dunk, but he is going to show up when time comes. In practice, he is unstoppable inside. Now we just have to get that to carry over into the game." Arthur did score 13 points, but he could have had more if not for missed dunks and easy inside shots. After two games, Arthur is averaging 12.5 points per game when many people thought he would become the Jayhawks' go-to-guy. Russell Robinson isn't worried about him. Mark Dent Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN Darrell Arthur, sophomore forward, dunks during Sunday night's game against UMKC. Arthur contributed 13 points to the Jayhawks 85-62 victory over the Kanganos. Kansas 85. University of Missouri - Kansas City 62
## PlayerTOT-FG FG-FGA3-PT FG-FGAFT-FTAREBOUNDS
Off.Def.TotalFoulsPointsAssistsTurnoversBlocksStealsMin.
00 Arthur, Darrell5-120-03-53710413322*327
03 Robinson, Russell5-83-62-4123315910235
04 Collins, Sherron3-100-64-4077310430229
05 Stewart, Rodrick4-40-00-122408130118
10 Case, Jeremy0-00-00-0 KANSAS REBOUNDS UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI - KANSAS CITY REBOUNDS
## Player10T-FGREBOUNDS
FG-FGAFG-FGAFT-FTAOff.Def.TotalFoulsPointsAssistsTurnoversBlocksStealsMin.
01 Humphrey, James2-40-20-016724031123
02 Balch, Nathan0-00-00-0 >> COMMENTARY KU successes comparable with Boston's BY SHAWN SHROVER KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST SSHROWER@KANSAN.COM Unless you've been on Mars for the last few months, you've probably noticed that New England-area teams can do no wrong. Actually, better make it Jupiter. But sports fans in the 50-mile stretch between Allen Fieldhouse and Arrowhead Stadium are pretty blessed, as well. The New England Patriots are the only undefeated team left in the NFL, and the Boston Celtics are the only undefeated team left in the NBA. On Thursday, the New England Revolution clinched a spot in the MLS Cup, and last month, the Boston Red Sox won their second World Series in four years. Until two weeks ago, Boston College was the No. 2 football team in the country. I'm pretty sure I even saw the sun revolving around Boston the other day. With the No. 4 Kansas men's basketball team's victories against Louisiana-Monroe and UMKC during the weekend, and the No. 4 Kansas football team's victory against Oklahoma State Saturday, both teams are simultaneously undefeated for the first time in school history. The Kansas women's basketball team even joined the party, winning its season opener Sunday. Down the road in Kansas City, the Wizards reached the MLS Western Conference Championship, despite being the lowest seed in the West. Even after weeks of embarrassing football, the Chiefs could still Forrest Gump their way to an AFC West title. And all last week Garth Brooks rocked capacity crowds at the Sprint Center (hey, Brooks was invited to the Royals Spring Training in 2004). While New England sports enthusiasts might scoff at comparing what's going on here in the Midwest to their sports paradise, the similarities are there. Friday night, senior forward Darnell Jackson had a dominating performance, scoring 21 points and swiping four steals in just 18 minutes. But you wouldn't have known it to talk to him after the game. When asked what he thought he needed to improve on most, his answer was, "Everything." When asked whether he thought he might get more minutes in the future, he said held be fine playing one minute, grabbing two rebounds and scoring one point if it was best for the team. "I just try to do the dirty work," Jackson said. Allen Fieldhouse on Naismith Drive is without question the college basketball equivalent to Fenway Park on Yawkey Way. Inside the Fieldhouse, Bill Self looks to have the right combination of dual-guards, big men and upperclassmen to make a Final Four run. At the same time, former Jayhawk Paul Pierce looks to have the running mates to go deep in the NBA playoffs with the Celtics. When it comes to Kansas' superiority in men's basketball and football, only New Englanders can relate. Kansas is the only school with Top 5 men's basketball and football programs. The only schools that come close are Oregon (No. 12 and No. 2, respectively) and Tennessee (No. 7 and No. 19, respectively). While the Patriots are on pace to become the first team to go 19-0 in NFL history, Mark Manginos Jayhawks are a victory this Saturday away from going 11-0 for the first time in school history. The most striking resemblance between the two sports regions, though, is the "humble pie" being served to Kansas' athletes. Throw in some seafood and a Sam Adams and I'd swear I was in New England. Edited by Tara Smith it 1