SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2007
FOOTBALL
THE CHASE IS ON
Brandon McAnderson, senior running back, scrambles away from Oklahoma State defense Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium. McAnderson finished the game with more than 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Jayhawks take on Iowa State in their final home game this season Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Hawks trample Cowboys, Henry captures three touchdowns in 10th consecutive victory
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
STILLWATER, Okla. — One-hundred and eight. That's how many years it had been since Kansas started a season 10-0.
With their 43-28 victory at Oklahoma State on Saturday, the Jayhawks cemented their first 10-0 start since 1899 and kept their dream season alive, moving up one spot to No. 4 in the AP and Coaches' polls.
Kansas (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) did what it has done all year; come up with defensive stops at just the right moments and respond to adversity with offensive firepower. Oklahoma State (5-5, 3-3) posted plenty of points despite the loss of its best receiver,
but the Jayhawks countered two late Cowboy touchdowns with a perfectly orchestrated 89-yard touchdown drive to seal the victory.
"Our kids don't panic, and they keep them poise," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "We did what we had to do to keep separation between us and Oklahoma State."
Kansas relied on heroes from sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing and senior wide receiver Marcus Henry to stay in the driver's seat for most of Saturday's game. After dropping the first pass thrown his way, Henry recovered to put together the finest performance of his collegiate career. The lanky receiver, who grew up two hours away from Stillwater and brought a bevy of family and friends, hauled in eight receptions for 199
yards and three touchdowns.
Henry's most crucial catch came with 8:26 remaining in the game. Oklahoma State had just engineered an impressive four-play, 89-yard drive to trim the deficit to five points and pull the home crowd out of a dormant state. The Jayhawks started their ensuing drive at their own 11-yard line, faced with the prospect of marching into the teeth of a hostile and noisy crowd.
from the shotgun formation, looked left to see senior tight end Derek Fine blanketed by two defenders and caught a glipse of Henry streaking across the back of the end zone. Reesing's eye did not deceive him, and he delivered a perfect strike to the 6-foot-4 target.
After pushing the ball all the way to the Oklahoma State four-yard line, the Kansas offense looked frozen. The Oklahoma State student section was full of fans bouncing up and down and screaming at full throat trying to halt the lawhayaks, confronted with third-and-goal. Reesing took the snap
"It's happened several times this season when a team's gone ahead or got a little close to us late in the game that the offense has responded well and found a way to get in the end zone." Reesing said. "We were moving the ball well all night, and that drive was definitely a huge drive because it got us a little bit more of a lead and more of a
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CROSS COUNTRY
Teams fail to qualify for national meet
BY TYLER PASSMORE
tpassmore@kansan.com
Saturday's NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Peoria, Ill., marked possibly the last race of the year for the cross country team, but at least one Jayhawk runner will move a step further.
With the biggest race of the year on the line, senior All-American Colby Wissel stepped up once again. Setting a new personal record time and finishing fifth overall, Wissel punished his ticket for the NCAA Championships.
As a team, the men finished 10 out of the 19 teams in the field. Although they did
not win the race, many of the team members set personal best marks. Senior Paul Hefferon also set a personal best time and finished 20th overall. Sophomore Dan Van Orsdel finished third for the Jayhawks and 71st overall.
Leading the way for the
Wissel
heading the way for the woman was sophomore Lauren Bonds. Bonds set her personal record time while finishing 25th overall. The trio of seniors were next, with Alicia McGregor and Hayley Harbert both setting personal best times. Lisa Morrisey finished fourth for the Jayhawks in her final race and that was just ahead of freshman Amanda Miller.
Wissel, Hefferon and Bonds all earned allregion honors along with their career-best times. Wissel automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships because he was one of the top four finishers who wasn't from teams that qualified automatically.
The two teams will now wait to see whether they will receive an at-large bid to the championships, which will be announced later today. Two at-large runners from every region can also be selected.
— Edited by Matt Erickson
Race results
Kansas men's results:
5. Colby Wissel, 30:11
6. Paul Heferon, 30:40
7. Dan Van Grisdel, 32:25
8. Patrick McGowan, 32:25
9. Nick Capnario, 32:36
10. Jason Schwertzer, 32:56
14. Bret Imgrand 34:39
Kansas women's results:
25. Lauren Bonds, 21:05
55. Hayley Harbert, 21:44
73. Alicia McGregor, 21:56
80. Lisa Morrisse, 22:19
96. Amanda Miller, 22:23
100. Alison Knoll, 22:25
112. Megan James, 22:39
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Hawks lack 'killer instinct' on Sunday
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
mdent@kansan.com
Go ahead, take your pick.
Did Kansas make big shots and show enough poise to beat a tough, motivated UMKC team in its 85-62 victory or did it bring back memories of last year's Jayhawks, who toyed too long with Toledo and barely beat Ball State?
Ask Kansas coach Bill Self, and it was a little of both.
"I would say, 'maybe they played pretty good,'" he said. "I also think we made some plays that when we watch the tape, I'll say, 'why would we do that in this situation?' You have a chance to break the game open and do a couple of things and let them back in it. I just feel like we didn't have the killer instinct tonight."
For a while in the first half, UMKC looked like it had the toughness to join the group of teams that had upset major powers in the first week of the season. The Kansas players wouldn't let it happen. Upsets been on their mind all week. Senior forward Darnell Jackson said the team saw all the surprise losses on "SportsCenter" and knew every team needed to be taken
The Kangaroos sure came out like killers. Their undersized big men didn't back down and ensured Kansas (2-0) wouldn't wow anyone like it did in Friday's season-opening, run-and-jump-riddled 107-78 victory against Louisiana Monroe.
Lisa Linovac/KANSAN
"We don't want to be one of those teams getting upset because we're better than that," he said. "We can go out there and win in every game as long as we go out there as a team and not be selfish."
So when Reggie Hamilton made a three-pointer with about eight minutes left in the first half to make the score 22-21, the jayhawks responded. Junior guard Mario Chalmers made a three of his own. Sophomore guard Sherron Collins swiped a pass, sprinted to the opposite end and found senior guard Russell Robinson for a lay-up.
seriously.
Mario Chalmers, junior guard, *beats* an UMKC defender to get the ball in Sunday's game. Chalmers had four steals and led the l Jayhawks with 23 points.
Senior guard Rodrick Stewart and senior center Sasha Kaun made some shots, and Robinson extended the Jayhawk lead to 41-28 just before halftime. Robinson was everywhere Sunday night — making threes, throwing nine assists and getting in the middle of a first-half confrontation.
When UMKC kept playing the scrapy Cinderella later in the second half, Robinson came to the rescue again. He made a three-pointer with about nine minutes left to give the lajayhaws a 62-48 lead. Kansas outscored UMKC 23-14 the rest of the way. Robinson had 15 points while Chalmers had 23 to lead the lajayhaws in scoring.
"I wasn't nervous." Robinson said. "We just traded baskets for a long time. We just have to buckle down defensively."
Self said it wasn't the defense that allowed UMKC to stick around and pull
within 10 late in the second half. It was the miscues. Turnovers and missed dunks kept the lajahawks from blowing the game open. Self also said the offense had trouble going against the zone, and the big guys missed shots near the basket.
Free throw shooting was another problem. After making 15 of 19 against Louisiana Monroe, Kansas took a major step back
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>> WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
Kansas opened its 2007-2008 regular season Sunday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse with a hard-fought 76-72 victory against Hartford.
Like its 74-8 overtime exhibition victory against Emporia State last Thursday night, Kansas opened the game on fire but a dry spell allowed its opponent to get close.
"Out of the gate we were good again, but we were really flat coming out of the locker room (at halftime) and that's a concern," bonnie Henrickson said.
The Jayhawks were up by as many as 15 points in the first half and led by 10 at the break. Hartford pulled within two points several times in the second half.
"I thought we lost our poise at times, and other times we were just sloppy," Henrickson said.
Freshman Nicollette Smith countered those numbers with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, with 16 of those points coming in the second half thanks mostly to passes from penetrating guards.
"We were just penetrating a lot more because they had stayed out on me in the first half." Smith said.
Hartford outscored Kansas 30-14 in the paint and scored 16 points off of the Jayhawks' 20 turnovers.
Smith led the lajahys shooting from beyond the arc, going 4-for-7. The team finished with a school record 11 made threes.
Anna Faltermieier/KANSAN
Porscha Weddington, sophomore forward, dribbles past a Hartford player during the game in Allen Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon. Kansas won the game 76-72.
and with a school record 11 made threes. As important as their three-pointers, Kansas' free throws helped hold off a late charge from Hartford.
Kansas hit 19-of-22 from the charity
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