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PAGE 6
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS 35-34 | 69
BAYLOR 27-25 52
KANSAS STAT LEADERS
Tharpe
Wiggins
KANSAS
Ellis
PLAYER PTS FG-FGA REBS A TO's
Naadir Tharpe 22 9-13 5 4 2
Andrew Wiggins 14 4-13 7 5 0
Perry Ellis 14 5-10 10 2 3
Tarik Black 6 3-5 9 2 2
Joel Embiid 5 1-6 7 0 3
Wayne Selden, Jr. 4 1-3 3 5 1
Jamari Traylor 4 2-3 3 0 1
Brannen Greene 0 0-0 1 0 1
Other Players 0 0-1 0 2 0
TOTAL 69 25-54 45 20 13
BAYLOR
PLAYER PTS FG-FGA REBS A TO'S
Cory Jefferson 14 5-11 1 0 2
Brady Heslip 12 4-14 2 1 0
Rico Gathers 9 2-8 8 1 0
Isaiah Austin 6 2-7 6 2 2
Royce O'Neale 3 1-6 4 3 1
Kenny Chery 3 1-2 0 0 1
Gary Franklin 3 1-5 3 8 3
Taurean Prince 2 0-2 1 0 2
Other Players 0 0-0 0 0 0
TOTAL 52 16-55 31 15 11
GAME TO REMEMBER
Tharpe came just one point shy of matching his career high in scoring with 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting while adding four assists. On a night when few things were working for the Jayhawks on offense, Tharpe kept them cruising along.
Tharpe
GAME TO FORGET
Perhaps the hype is affecting this freshman; too. Embiid won scoreless until four minutes left in the game as all of his points came in garbage time. He made just one field goal and also had three turnovers. He was in foul trouble throughout the night and played just 17 minutes lowest in a conference game this season.
his lowest in a conference game this season.
Embiid
UNSUNG HERO
Tarik Black, forward
With Joel Embid in early four trouble, Black was forced to come in and play the enforcer role that Embid usually plays. Black had seven rebounds in 11 minutes in the first half. Black finished the game playing a season-high 23 minutes and rebounding a season-high nine rebounds.
Black
Kansas 69 Baylor 52
MICHAEL STRICKLAND/KANSAN
Naadir Tharpe (10) led the Jayhawks in the win against Baylor with 22 points and 4 assists. The Jayhawks beat the Bears 62-52 in Waco.
BASKETBALL REWIND
Tharpe leads Jayhawks to victory over Baylor Bears
BRIAN HILLIX sports@kansan.com
"I knew that last game wasn't Kansas basketball," Tharpe said. "Me being a point guard leading this team I didn't do anything to help. I had to play better."
if you look closely at junior guard Naadir Tharpe's conference games this season, something sticks out.
Heading into Tuesday's matchup against Baylor, Tharpe averaged 20 points in games decided by single-digits. Takeaway: When the game is close, Tharpe is the one taking charge.
Tharpe scored 22 points on 9-13 shooting and 4-6 from 3-point range to lead No. 8 Kansas to a 69-52 win over Baylor in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday. He was one point shy of his career-high as he recovered from a miserable three-point outing against Texas two days ago.
While a 17-point victory doesn't seem close, the game wasn't decided until about five minutes remaining. Every time Kansas needed a basket
When Baylor held a three-point lead with five minutes remaining in the first half, Tharpe took over and scored nine of the Jayhawks' next 14
"There were opportunities for me to score the ball so I just tried to stay aggressive."
NAADIR THARPE Kansas guard
to pull away from the Bears, Tharpe delivered.
points to give Kansas an eight-point lead at the break.
Thanks to Tharpe, the Bears were never able to take the lead in the second frame. After leading by 11, Baylor went on a 15-7 run to pull to within three with 12 minutes to go. Tharpe erased that momentum with a contested 3-pointer over Brady Heslip to make it a two-possession game. Baylor was never able to pull closer than five the rest of the night.
there were opportunities for me to score the ball so I just tried to stay aggressive," Tharpe said.
All season, Tharpe has been one of Kansas' most efficient scorers.
The junior point guard scored 17 against Oklahoma on seven field goal attempts, 23 against Iowa State on nine attempts and 21 against Iowa State on eight attempts.
That efficiency continued as Tharpe missed just four field goals against Baylor. His 13 field goal attempts against Baylor set a season-high and marked the first conference game Tharpe has shot at least 10 field goals.
This 22-point performance came after he averaged just more than five points in his last four games, which included a scoreless outing against Texas Christian University on Jan. 25.
KEY STATS
Tharpe doesn't need to score 20-plus for Kansas to be successful. But on a night Joel Embiid and Wayne Selden Jr. combined for only nine points, it was certainly welcomed. Self certainly welcomed his contribution.
"We're going to be a team where it's a different guy every night." Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And he stepped up."
60
Edited by Tara Bryant
Kansas' 3-point percentage, best this season
Joel Embiid made one field goal, which came with minutes remaining in the game
47
Approximate distance (in feet) of Andrew Wiggins' buzzer-beating shot to end the first half
CHECK OUT
KANSAN.COM
PRIME PLAYS
8:53 - Andrew Wiggins goes up for the one handed slam, finished with two hands for safety. Kansas leads 54-44 with 8:53 left in the game.
First Half
12:48 - Tarik Black grabs a Brady Heslip missed 3-pointer and Jamari Traylor puts it away on the other end. Kansas trails Baylor 11-10 with 12:48 remaining in the first half.
7:49 - Naadir Tharpe finds Andrew Wiggins all alone for his second dunk in consecutive possessions. Kansas leads 56-44 with 7:49 left in the game.
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