PAGE 8B
KANSAS 46-3985
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Kansas 85
TEXAS 18-36 | 54
KANSAS STAT LEADERS
Wiggins
Selden
Wiggins
KANSAS
PLAYER PTS FG-FGA REBS A TO's
Perry Ellis 8 4-6 2 0 1
Andrew Wiggins 21 7-12 6 0 1
Wayne Selden Jr. 8 4-7 6 -7 0
Jamari Traylor 2 0-1 3 2 0
Tarik Black 9 4-5 5 0 0
Frank Mason 14 6-7 0 0 2
Naadir Tharpe 2 1-9 2 5 2
Conner Frankamp 5 2-4 1 2 0
Other Players 16 3-9 14 3 1
TOTAL 85 31-60 39 19 7
TEXAS
PLAYER PTS FG-FGA REBS A TD's
Cameron Ridley 11 5-7 6 0 2
Jonathan Holmes 17 7-11 6 2 2
Javan Folix 6 2-9 1 3 0
Demarcus Holland 2 1-5 2 0 1
Isaiah Taylor 5 1-14 4 4 2
Prince Ibeh 0 0-1 8 0 0
Connor Lammert 8 3-5 3 0 1
Martez Walker 3 1-3 1 0 0
Other Players 2 1-6 6 2 4
TOTAL 54 21-61 37 11 12
GAME TO REMEMBER
An early birthday gift for the standout freshman Andrew Wiggins, whose birthday was Feb. 23, was him scoring 15 points in the first half. He hit his first three 3-pointers, but didn't hit one the rest of the game. Wiggins finished the game with 21 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Wiggins stayed active on the defensive end and it showed by holding Texas to a season-low 18 first half points.
a season-low 18 first half point
Wiggins
GAME TO FORGET
--for two points
Maadir Tharpe, guard
Naadir Thar guered the ball well against texas, but once again struggled to generate an offensive game. Thar gave five assistes and two turnovers, which isn't a bad ratio. He was knocking down his open looks and missed on all of his five 3-point attempts. He finished the game 1-9 from the field for two points.
Tharpe
UNSUNG HERO
Frank Mason, guard
On a day where the bench contributed 33 points, Frank Mason gave the team a spark off the bench. Mason helped start the nine minute 20-2 run by scoring nine points. He provided shut down defense on Texas' guard Isaiah Taylor and held Taylor to 1-14 from the field.
Mason
BASKETBALL
Embiid sets record, Black's dunk creates excitement
BLAIR SHEADE
sports@kansan.com
The first five minutes weren't what anyone expected. Not with a revenge game against Texas and a potential conference championship in the Jayhawks' sights.
At one point, Kansas trailed by five to Texas in Allen Fieldhouse.
But there were still 15 minutes left in the half, and the Jayhawks would soon give everyone the show they were waiting for. Kansas tied the game at eight on the following two possessions with a layup by freshman guard Wayne Selden, Jr., and a 3-pointer by freshman guard Andrew Wiggins.
In the following nine minutes, the Jayhawks went on a 20-2 run, sending Allen Fieldhouse into a frenzy.
"We were so geeked up and amped up and played so well early," coach Bill Self said.
That run set the pace and the tone for the whole game, and Kansas used the early spark to propel the Jayhawks to their 85-54 blowout victory on Saturday night.
talked about the aggression the lajayhaws presented during that huge run in the first half and freshman guard Frank Mason shined in that half because of his aggression.
Both Kansas' players and Sel
"I think we started off the game aggressive,we were
were only up two on Texas. After the substitution, Kansas' run emerged.
BILL SELF Coach
"Frank shot it really well in practice, but he hasn't shot it worth a flip during the games." Self said. "He was waiting to bust out. On a night where you
"We didn't give them any easy baskets and everything was contested at the rim."
locked in on defense and getting stops and that led to our offense," said Mason, who scored nine points off the bench in the first half. "I think that was the best we played in the first half this season."
Self said that both junior guard Naadir Tharpe and Mason defended the ball well. But Mason gave the Jayhawks something that starting point guard Tharpe couldn't give on Saturday: an offensive threat.
Tharpe played 16 minutes of the 36-8 run, but only scored two points. Meanwhile, when Mason checked in at the 12-minute mark, the Jayhawks
The early defense separated the Jayhawks' performance Saturday night from the Feb. 1 game against Texas. In that first game, the Longhorns scored 38 points in the first half against Kansas. But on Saturday the Jayhawks held Texas to a season-low 18 first half points.
think Naadir would be six of seven and maybe Frank one for nine, Frank made shots and Naadir missed open looks."
As far as having a big lead, they couldn't get anything going, but we didn't give them any easy baskets and everything was contested at the
rim," Self said about the first half defense.
The main contributor in the 36-8 run was Wiggins. The standout freshman scored 15 points on 5-7 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc in the first half, but the plays he made were louder than his halftime stat line.
The run started with Wiggins hitting his first of three 3-pointers in the first half, and then the alley-oop dunk happened. If any play sparked the 36-8 run, the alley-oop dunk by Wiggins was it. Wiggins came baseline behind Texas' big men and slammed the lob pass from Selden. Wiggins said his confidence builds when his offense starts early, and especially when he hits a three. Wiggins said the team's pride fueled the long nine-minute run.
"We wanted to come out of the game aggressive and we knew the last time we were at their place we got embarrassed," Wiggins said. "We wanted to do the same thing to them. Take it to them and every minute on the floor we played hard."
— Edited by Amber Kasselman
Freshman guard Andrew Wiggins shoots from behind the arc during the second half of the game against Texas on Saturday night. Wiggins led the Jayhawks with 21 points, two blocks and one steal.
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