TRACK AND FIELD The Jayhawks took first place in 14 events at the Jayhawk Invitational. PAGE2B
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005
www.kansan.com
Kansas rocks Texas at home
Jayhawks confident ready for border rivalry with Tigers
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTWRITER
The Jayhawks put a Texas-sized whooping on the Longhorns Saturday night, and they did it in style.
In front of a national television audience, with "College GameDay" and Dick Vitale in the house, the Jayhawks put on a display of monster dunks, acrobatic shots and long-range three-pointers.
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See the story about basketball seniors on page 7B.
But Kansas players won't have much time to bask in the glory of this victory. Only one day separates Saturday's victory from tonight's match-up against Kansas' border rival, the Missouri Tigers.
Kansas coach Bill Self said his team's 90-65 victory against the No.13 Longhorns was its most complete game of the season.
"We can get all happy over this, but we are only halfway done," Self said. "Our guys, hopefully they won't celebrate very much because we know that we have Mizzou coming."
They do have reason to be happy though. Saturday's victory improved Kansas to 6-0 and isolated them in first place in the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma was also undefeated going into Saturday, but Oklahoma lost on the road against Iowa State, putting the Sooners one game behind the Jayhawks at 5-1.
Missouri is 10-10 overall and ranked ninth in the conference.
While Kansas was busy routing
SEE RIVALRY ON PAGE 7B
Courtney Kublen/KANSAN
Senior forward Wayne Simien shoots over Texas' Jason Klotz during the game at Allen Fieldhouse Saturday night. Simien finished the game with 27 points. The game concluded in a 90-65 KU victory.
'Hawks to face erratic Tigers
Rival team struggling this season
BY KELLI ROBINET
krobinet@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWITTER
Kansas and Missouri are teams heading in opposite directions.
Missouri has also suffered defeats in five of its last six games and limps into tonight's match up with a 2-5 Big 12 Conference record.
The Jayhawks are coming off one of their best games of the season, an 85-60 victory against Texas, while the Tigers are reeling after losing to Kansas State, at home, for the first time in 20 years
Comference record.
Things are so low in Columbia, Mo.,
that Missouri coach Quin Snyder may well be out of a job at the end of the season.
Still, after hearing about Missouri's most recent loss, the Jayhawk players said they expected to see an inspired Tiger squad in Lawrence tonight.
"Strugglng or not, it doesn't really matter in a game of this magnitude," senior forward Wayne Simien said. "We know they're going to come in and give us their best shot, and we're going to be ready for that."
The preverbal "best shot" that Missouri gives Kansas every year in Allen Fieldhouse could be more intense than ever, because if the Tigers can find a way to win, it could turn the team's season around, senior guard Mike Lee said.
"But I don't ever want to lose to Missouri," he said. "You play to win every game, and we're going to approach it like any other game."
One of the few bright spots on the Tigers team so far has been the play of sophomore forward Linas Kleiza. He averages 16 points a game and has five double-doubles this year. Shutting down Kleiza and the rest of the Missouri front line will be a main priority for Kansas.
Despite being swept by Kansas State and losing to the likes of Davidson, Missouri can play with anyone in the country for a single game. Missouri owns impressive victories against Gonzaga and Indiana. It also played tough against Oklahoma State and Illinois, but lost close games in the closing minutes.
Courtney Kuhlen/KANSAN
Junior forward Christian Moody goes up for a shot during the first half of the game against Texas.
But I don't ever want to lose to Missouri. You
play to win every game, and we're going to approach it like any other game."
Bill Self
Kansas basketball coach
Senior guard Jason Conley leads the way for the Tigers from the perimeter, as he is averaging 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. Sophomore guard Thomas Gardner leads the team in three-point shooting and averages nine points a game.
"Missouri has guys like Kleiza that can go for 25 a night." Self said. "We've got to stop them from the start."
Much like with the Texas game, contesting outside shots will be a key factor. The Tigers like to shoot from the perimeter and are a difficult team to defeat when they are making shots.
Edited by Lori Bettes
SPORTS COMMENTARY
RYAN COLAIANNI
rcolaianni@kansan.com
Mangino improves football recruiting
On Wednesday, the Kansas football team will receive commitments from more than 20 high school and junior college players to play for the lavhawks next season.
The commitments show that coach Mark Mangino and his staff are closing the gap with their Big 12 Conference rivals in recruiting.
A teacher at my high school, who was a manager for the Oklahoma football team during her time at that university, had nothing but good things to say about Mangino when he took over the job at Kansas, but Oklahoma fans may start to worry if Mangino continues to improve his recruiting classes.
- Mangino was one of the country's best recruiters when he was the offensive coordinator for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma.
SEE RECRUITING ON PAGE 7B
Women's basketball shoots well but fails
BY PAUL BRAND
pbrand@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
LINCOLN, Neb. — A Jayhawk team that rode a two-game winning streak into Nebraska came out firing again from long range, but the Cornhuskers proved to be an elusive target for the Jayhawks' third consecutive Big 12 Conference victory.
Kansas, 9-9 (2-5 Big 12), hung with Nebraska for the first 20 minutes of play, but Jayhawk miscues and shoots lappes brought another conference defeat, 59-48.
While the Kansas offense managed the ball
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well in the first half, 15 second-half turnovers provided instant offense and enough ammunition for the Cornhuskers to pull away. Nebraska, 12-7 (4-3), scored 20 points off turnovers.
See story about Kaylee Brown on page 8B.
Inside scoring keyed the regular offensive sets for Nebraska, which scored 32 points in the paint. Cornhusker freshman forward Danielle Page came off the bench for 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
"Their pressure was good," Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "Our offense became their offense."
The usual offensive leader for Nebraska, Kiera Hardy, was held down by Kansas in the first half with two points, but closed out with 17.
"I thought we did a good job on Hardy for the first 30 minutes," Henrickson said.
Despite the shutdown of Hardy, the sophomore guard woke up following halftime.
"She's a streaky person," junior forward Crystal Kemp said of Hardy. "Once the mental part comes, the physical comes, too."
As Hardy found her stroke and the Kansas offense slowed because of execution problems, Nebraska expanded its advantage and took over the game. For the first 20 minutes, the game appeared to be heading for another close finish as
"The their pressure was good Our offense became their offense."
Bonnie Henrickson Kansas basketball coach
the Jayhawks had endured in their previous three contests.At the break, the Jayhawks found themselves in another tight contest, trailing 28-27.
Junior guard Kaylee Brown led the way for the Jayhawks in the first half with 11 points, making all four of her shots from the floor, including three attempts from behind the three-point line. Brown's long range shots provided eight point in less than a minute to spark the early offense.
"Kaylee Brown hit some tough shots and hit some shots on busted plays," Henrickson said.
Defensive focus on Crystal Kemp and on-ball screens opened up the floor for Brown to shoot from outside. Brown scored only four after the break to close with 15.
"When we have Crystal Kemp down low and they're pinching her, things open up." Brown said.
With Brown's perimeter scoring gone, the Jayhawk offense shifted to Kemp. Kemp's scoring was limited to eight points because of Nebraska's tall starting lineup that features three players over six feet tall.
Following the quick start from the floor in the first 10 minutes. Brown sat out the rest of the half with foul trouble.
The Cornhusker front line dominated the scoring and accounted for 20 of the 28 first half points. Kemp scored 10 points and was held to six rebounds. Hardy looked to open up her offense in the second half with a three-pointer on Nebraska's opening possession and a quick score on the next Cornhusker trip down the floor.
The early strikes for Hardy, a Kansas City, Mo., native, woke up the Big 12's second leading scorer as she finished with 15 second half points.
SEE FAILS ON PAGE 8B
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Rachel Seymour/KANSAN
Erica Hallman, junior guard, makes her way around Nebraska's Elena Diaz and toward the basket Saturday night in Lincoln, Neb. Hallman brought in a total of 12 points and eight assists for the Jayhawks that night.
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