Section B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Kansas men
Tuesday, January 18, 2000
Expectations high for men's team
Continued from 1B
The stiff part of the Jayhawks' Big 12 competition, however, doesn't always come from the upper echelon of teams. The road is rugged from top to bottom.
Take this year's Kansas State Wildcats. Coach Tom Asbury's team lost to Illinois by 33 points on Dec. 11 and managed only 56 points Saturday against Missouri in an offensive performance so paltry it brought a Kansas City Star columnist to question Asbury's game strategy and even his job security. But just three days earlier, the Wildcats battled the No. 8 Jayhawks to the wire in Allen Fieldhouse.
"Once the game [Kansas State] starts, all records are thrown out the window." London said. "It's about who plays better on that day, regardless of whether we're a Top 10 team and they're not ranked."
The Jayhawks are off to a 4-0 start in conference, partially because of the play of talented freshmen Drew Gooden, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, who haven't faded under the added pressure and energy of Big 12 play.
"I told our freshmen the other day that when
you get into conference play, the intensity goes up a level," said Williams last week. "They're going to be shocked, if they're not careful, at how much that level goes up."
So Williams appears to have his 'Hawks conference savvy for the time being, but the exhausting pressure of endless expectation is always weighing on his mind. If the Jayhawks win a conference game, they were supposed to. And if they do lose, it's a travesty, and something drastic must be wrong with the team.
"It's something we have to deal with every game," Williams said yesterday before the Texas A&M game. "We're just held to a higher standard. That's just the way it is."
For now, meeting that standard has Kansas at the top of the Big 12 standings, and the players think they are poised to take back the regular season crown the team lost to Texas last season.
"It's very important because we should be on the top," London said. "We have the best players and a great coach. We need to come out and play hard and beat everybody like we should."
Scoring spurt provides victory
Kansas sophomore guard Jeff Boschee forces a Nebraska guard to pick up his dribble. The Jayhawks have used full- and half-court press defenses in an effort to force turnovers. Photo by Mati I. Dauchenhoff/KANSAN
No pressure, of course.
By Shawn Hutchinson
Kansan sportswriter
There was no fumbling the lead away this time.
The Jayhawks held only a 32-30 lead with four minutes to play in the first half, but a 17-2 Kansas run, sparked by a Kenny Gregory jumper, tore the game wide open.
No. 8 Kansas, which narrowly edged Kansas State on Wednesday night after watching a 22-point lead evaporate in the second half, ran through the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday night in Allen Fieldhouse, 97-82.
"That was basically the story of the game," said Kansas coach Roy Williams. "We got more active defensively, we got some turnovers, we got the ball inside and scored and that was basically it."
The two thorns in Kansas' side were Nebraska's center Kimani Ffriend and forward Steffon Bradford.
Ffriend swatted away six Kansas attempts, scored 23 points, hit six of seven field goals and went to the freethrow line 19 times. Bradford added 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
Then there was the 17-2 spurt against the Cornhuskers.
It was also basically what Kansas has been doing all year — keeping the game close and relying on one or two spurs to win the game. The Jayhawks ran off a 12-0 spurt in a 71-60 win against St. Louis on Dec. 30. The next week against Penn, Kansas put together 25-2 and 22-0 spurts in a 105-9 thrashing. The Jayhawks used a 9-1 spurt at the end of the K-State game, which sealed a 87-79 victory.
"I thought Friend and Bradford were just animals inside and we couldn't do anything with them," Williams said. "I was really disappointed with
how we rebounded the basketball. My feeling was that every time [the Cornhuskers] shot it they were just playing volleyball with it until they could finally get it in."
It was Kansas guard Luke Axtell who came up with the monster shot. Axtell led Kansas in scoring for the first time with 15 points, and it was his threepointer right before halftime that sent the Cornhuskers spiraling into the locker room.
That three-pointer expanded the Kansas lead to 49-32 at the half, and after the Jayhawks scored the first four points of the second half, the game was all but out of reach.
The Jayhawks shot 45 percent from the floor for the game and 26 percent from three-point range, but those totals were waterlogged as a result of 0-of-10 shooting to end the game. In the
last two minutes, John Crider went 0-for-3 from three-point range, and Terry Nooner and Kirk Hinrich both went 0-for-2.
"It looked like Keystone Kops out there at the end, with John Crider, Terry Nooner and Kirk taking all those shots," Williams said. "A couple of them were good shots but it can't be anything casual. I don't like casual basketball."
Saturday night also marked the return of Kansas forward Lester Earl. Earl, who hadn't played since Nov. 27 because of a knee injury, entered the game with under two minutes remaining in the first half and immediately came up with a steal.
Earl didn't attempt a shot but finished with three rebounds, an assist and a block in seven minutes of play.
Earl returns
BOX SCORE
No. 8 Kansas 97 Nebraska 82
Nebraska (7-9, 0-3):
Florence 2-12 4-4 9, Bradford 5-10 2-12,
Fritch 6-11 17-19 2, Walker 3-9 1-2 10,
Cochran 5-12 2-17, Booker 25 0 24,
Bucklehill 01 0 00, Davies 1 2 00
2. Truscott 5-1 2 10
Kansas (14-2. 3-0):
Collison 67 1-1 13, Bradford 310 5-1 61,
Chenowith 34 1-1 39, Blochsee 38 0-0 89, Gregory
6-1 25 14, Godden 5-7 4-1 14, Earl 0 0 0 0,
Nooner 0 2 0 0, Hirsch 1-52 2-5, Clerd 0 3 0
, Carey 0 1 0 0, London 0 2-1 2, Johnson
3-4 1-4, Xactel 5-1 1-2 2, 15.
Kansas basketball keeps pressure on during break
1 2 Total
Nebraska 32 50 82
Kansas 49 48 97
by Matt Tait
sports@kansan.com
Kansas staff
No. 4 Kansas 54 vs. No. 5 Michigan State 66 (at Chicago Great Eight)
On Stop Day, the Kansas Jayhawks traveled to Chicago to square off with pre-season No. 1 Michigan State. The hype was short-lived, however, as the Spartans jumped all against the
Jayhawks in the first half to build a 16-point half-time lead. 39-23.
A 19-2 second-half run cut the Spartan lead to just six points with five minutes remaining. But
Michigan State countered with a late 9-1 run, giving the Jayhawks their first loss of the season.
Pittsburg State.
Kansas 6-1
No. 4 Kansas 96 vs. Pittsburg State 71
Coming off its first loss of the season, Kansas returned to Lawrence to host Division II opponent
The Gorillas entered Allen Fieldhouse unafraid, unintimidated and also undersized. The Kansas big men chipped away at the feisty Gorillas who were too small to stop the Jayhawks. Only up 13 at the break, Kansas won by 25. The Jayhawk big men out-rebounded the Gorillas 51-31, and forward Nick Collison and center Eric Chenowith each chipped in 20 points while forward Drew Gooden added 13.
Kansas 7-1
No. 8 Kansas 80 vs. No. 12 Ohio State 67
Against Kansas' second highyanticipated Big Ten opponent in ten days, the Jayhawks did not disappoint. In a sense, the victory against the Ohio State Buckeyes avenged Kansas' earlier loss to Michigan State.
The Jayhawks' depth and balance, along with an electric crowd, helped wear down the Buckeyes' one-two guard punch of Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn.
Leading the way for the Jayhawks was Kenny Gregory with 17, including several acrobatic, high-flying dunks. Jeff Boschee dropped in 15,
including four of five from three point land while Eric Chenowith and Nick Collison each chipped in 12 and Luke Axtell and Drew Gooden added eight points each.
Kansas 8-1
No. 6 Kansas 70 vs. No. 22 Illinois 84 (at Chicago - United Center)
Continuing its run through the Big Ten Conference, the Kansas men's basketball team headed back to Chicago to play
the Fighting Illini of Illinois.
Illinois was dealt that hand in the first half, and it showed as Kansas held Illinois to 29 percent shooting in the first half, but only led by one, 32-31.
In the second half, Kansas was forced to shoot at the rim with a lid on it, and it showed just as dramatically as it had for Illinois. Kansas shot 32 percent in the second half- 35 for the game - and fell to a Big Ten school for the second time in 12 days, 84-70.
Kansas 8-2
No.11 Kansas 82 vs. Princeton 67 The Kansas Jayhawks returned home after falling to Illinois to play against Princeton Traditionally, Princeton uses backdoor cuts and slows down the pace of the game to intelligently dissect its opponents. Princeton brought that style to Lawrence, but Kansas took an early 18-9 lead only five minutes into the game, courtesy of several fast-break buckets.
On the night, Princeton went 9-19 from the three-point line.
Nick Bradford scored early and got the Jayhawks going offensively. Ashante Johnson logged more minutes than usual because of an injury to Drew Gooden and scored 20 points on the night.
Kansas 9-2
No. 10 Kansas 71 vs. Saint Louis 60 (at Kansas City - Sprint Shootout)
After four days off for Christmas break, Kansas returned to action with a holiday extravaganza in Kansas City. The Jayhawks faced St. Louis University at Kemper Arena for the Sprint Shootout. Despite a gutsy effort from the
Billikens, the Jayhawks, behind Jeff Boschee's three-point heroes, prevailed 71-60.
The game was close throughout the first half and with 6 minutes left in the game, the Billikens had a two point lead at 55-53. Kansas then unleashed a 15-5 run the rest of the way and held on for the victory.
Kansas 10-2
No. 9 Kansas 105 vs Pennsylvania 59
For the second time during the 1999-00 season, Ivy was on the floor of Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas faced Pennsylvania for the third straight year, and after a slow start, rolled to a 105-59 victory in front of a capacity crowd.
The 'Hawks started slow as the Quakers jumped out to a 10-4 advantage thanks to two quick baskets from behind the arc.
Kansas outscored the Quakers 52-26. Eleven Jayhawks played more than 10 minutes in the contest, and every Jayhawk that suited up played.
Kansas 11-2
No. 9 Kansas 84 at Colorado 69
The Jayhawks to Boulder
for the bout with the Buffaloes. Despite trailing by four at half-time, the Jayhawks battled back in the second half and rolled to an 84-69 victory.
Kansas ripped off a 13-0 run that put them up by 22 and put the game away.
Five Jayhawks scored in double figures including Kenny Gregory and Jeff Boschee who poured in 13 each, Nick Bradford and Eric Chenowith who scored 11 apiece, and Drew Gooden who added 10.
Kansas 12-2
No. 8 Kansas 87 vs. Kansas State 79
The Sunflower State rivalry was kick-started into high gear almost immediately as both teams elected to push the pace early and often. The Jayhawks had a 54-36 halftime lead.
The Wildcats got right back into the game and were only down three points, 79-76, with two minutes still to play. The 'Hawks secured the 87-79 win, but Chenowith said it was the only thing they did right that night.
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