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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
"We'd bean playing anybody else, it would have meant the same, advancing to the Sweet 16," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I just so happens we played an in-state team to go where we wanted to go, and they were much better than us."
— Bill Self on the WSU vs. KU game
Kansas leads the all-time series versus Wichita State 14-2, winning the last five. Sunday's loss was just the third loss to Wichita State.
FACT OF THE DAY
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
— ESPN.com
Q. Kansas is the second-most-winning team in the NCAA. Who's the first?
A: The Kentucky Wildcats
ESPN.com
THE MORNING BREW
Jayhawks' season ends sour, but future looks bright
Chris Sitek
@ChrisSitek
The Kansas bench cheers after junior forward Perry Ellis' slam dunk against TCU on Feb. 21. Kansas lost in this year's NCAA Tournament Round of 32 against the Wichita State Shockers on Sunday.
BROOK BARNES/KANSAN
The Kansas Jayhawks have been one of the most dominant NCAA basketball teams in college basketball by being the second-most-winning team in the NCAA, according to sports-reference.com. This year followed suit with the Jayhawks winning their 11th consecutive Big 12 Title, winning 27 games and making the NCAA Tournament for the 25th consecutive time.
Sunday marked the second consecutive early exit with Kansas falling to Wichita State, 78-65 in the field of 32. But upon analysis, there are many positive takeaways from this season looking forward. According to KUsports, Kansas' roster is full of young players with five freshmen, five sophomores, four juniors, and one senior.
The core of sophomores, Frank Mason III, Wayne Selden Jr. and freshman reserve Devonte' Graham, appear to be a deep frontcourt looking forward. Mason is the second-leading scorer on the team at 12.6 points per game and Selden Jr. is the third at 9.4 points per game, according to ESPN. Pairing this with a healthy forward Perry Ellis (the team's leading scorer at 13.8 points per game), and reserve players in Jamari Traylor, Hunter Mickelson and Landen Lucas, the Jayhawks are looking to build on their 27-game-winning
season. Kansas welcomes another strong recruiting class, already receiving a commitment from Carlton Bragg, a 6-foot-9 forward from Villa-Angela St. Joseph High School in Cleveland.
Bragg is a five-star recruit that's listed as the 15th-ranked high school prospect by Rivals.com. Other prospects considering KU include No. 2-ranked forward Jaylen Brown of Wheeler High (Georgia),No. 3 guard Malik Newman of Callaway High (Mississippi). No.5 center Thon Maker of Orangeville Prep (Ontario),
No. 8 forward Ivan Rabb of Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland),
No. 11 center Stephen Zimmerman of Bishop Gorman High (Las Vegas)
and No. 19 forward Brandon Ingram of Kinston High
(North Carolina).
Just as the Jayhawks return players, they could be susceptible to losing some. Kelly Oubre Jr. is listed as the 11th pick and forward Cliff Alexander as the 24th in the upcoming NBA Draft, according to ESPN's Chad Ford. The 2014-2015 season can be viewed as a disappointment
osing so early in the NCAA Tournament, but I believe this team grew throughout the season. With the emergence of players such as sophomore Brannen Greene who shot 40 percent from three, good for third on the team, and freshman guard Kelly Oubre Jr, who was fourth on the team with 9.4 points per game via ESPN, Kansas improved all year.
The Jayhawks also gained valuable experience reaching the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game and going a perfect (16-0) at home and (6-3) at neutral
sites, according to kuathletics. com. Kansas was continually battle tested game-in and game-out in the Big 12 where only two teams had a losing record, five of these teams were ranked in the Top 25 and seven of the 10 total teams reached the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN.The 2015-2016 season has a lot of unknowns but the Kansas men's basketball team will be looking to build on the 2014-2015 season as they aim for their 12th consecutive Big 12 Title and more this fall.
Edited by Garrett Long
Chaos defines end of NCAA Tournament games
DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — In the 2008 national championship, with Kansas trailing Memphis by three and 10.8 seconds left in the game, coach Bill Self called for his team to run a play called "Chop."
The play, designed to provide multiple scoring options in moments of desperation, began with Sherron Collins dribbling up the court. Veering to his right, Collins handed off to Mario Chalmers at the top of the key, and Chalmers took the first of his options: He shot the 3-pointer.
It splashed through the net to force overtime.
some memorable finishes.
Kansas went on to win the title, and that perfectly executed play became known as "Mario's Miracle." And if anybody thinks calling it a miracle is hyperbole, well, chances are they haven't been watching as teams flounder through the final minutes in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Turnovers, missed shots, poor coaching and worse execution. Just call it organized chaos, late-game blunders that have nevertheless produced
MORRY GASH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
"First of all, the reason you struggle in games is because the other team's pretty doggone good," explained North Carolina coach Roy Williams, whose team survived two close games to reach the Sweet 16. "The other thing is the attention, the pressure they're still 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids. I mean, they're not going to get it right."
Indeed, many of today's brightest stars are freshmen and sophomore, players unaccustomed to the size of the game's stage. That dearth of veteran leaders, several coaches have argued, is also one of the big reasons that that scoring continued its downward trend this season.
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Another reason for the late-game flubs: Low- and mid-majors are often trying to upset a heavyweight, and the talent gap becomes more pronounced when the game is on the line.
Young was promptly stripped by the Cardinals' Terry Rozier, a turnover 40 feet from the hoop that prevented the Big West champs from even attempting a tying shot.
The Anteaters were inbounding the ball near midcourt, trailing 57-55 with about 6 seconds left. Alex
"We had a quick play lined up and unfortunately I lost the ball," Young said. "We couldn't get a timeout, and it just happens. It's basketball."
Speaking of timeouts, Northeastern burned through its allotment in the second half against Notre Dame, leaving coach Bill Coen unable to set up a final play with the Huskies trailing by two in the closing seconds. Instead of getting a tying shot off, Quincy Ford coughed up the ball, and the Fighting Irish added a couple of free throws to seal the victory.
That appeared to be the case last Thursday, when UC-Irvine had Louisville on the ropes.
Miami Heat's Mario Chalmers (15) shoots past Milwaukee Bucks' Michael Carter-Williams (5) during the first half of Tuesday's game in Milwaukee. Chalmer's shot known as "Mario's Miracle" in the 2008 national championship is just one example of how chaotic play becomes in the NCAA Tournament.
Valpo was trailing Maryland 65-62 with time running out on Friday, and Keith Carter got stuck in the corner in front of his own bench. He never even got a 3-pointer off.
"Iill take the blame from that," Drew said afterward.
"I thought Maryland did a really good job. We tried to do something a little different off one of the plays we usually run."
Irvine and Northeastern weren't the only teams that failed to get shots off with the game on the line, either. The same thing happened to Valparaiso, whose coach Bryce Drew knocked down that infamous 3-pointer that sent the Crusaders past Ole Miss in 1998.
When the Jayhawks flawlessly ran "Chop" in the 2008 title game, they had practiced that exact play hundreds of times. And the person who took the 3-pointer? Chalmers, a seasoned junior.
Asked about his timeout dilemma, Coen replied: "I wish we'd had one left."
"There is a lot of pressure," acknowledged Williams, who whose Tar Heels survived a tense finish against Harvard in their NCAA opener. "You've got to find some kids that can block all that out, and especially if they're really, really talented, you've got a better chance."
North Carolina took a 67-65 lead on the Crimson on a run-out with 23.8 seconds left. But rather than go to the basket for a layup or to draw a foul, Harvard's Wesley Saunders let loose a tightly guard 3-pointer
with almost no time left that bounced off the back of the rim.
The Tar Heels advanced. The Crimson headed home.
"We certainly have situations that we go over when we're down one possession and
things that we're looking for," Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. "Wesley is our playmaker. ... If he was going to get a three, get a drive, get a two, we were going to live with his decision there."
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