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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Landen Lucas plays for wins, not minutes
SCOTT CHASEN
@SCHasenKU
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
Sophomore guard Brannen Greene celebrates Saturday's win against Baylor.
Redshirt sophomore Landen Lucas dunks the ball against Baylor. Lucas had seven points, three boards and one assist.
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
In the Jayhawks' 25 games this season, no player has seen his minutes vary game-to-game more than Landen Lucas. The redshirt sophomore has played 15 or more minutes on four occasions, including a 24-minute outing against the TCU Horned Frogs, but he's also played less than five minutes in five different games.
To Lucas, however, there's only one stat that matters: Wins.
"Whatever coach asks of me, I'm ready to do," Lucas said following the team's victory over Baylor. "Whether I play or don't play, [I'm] always ready."
Lucas was certainly "ready" for the big stage, especially in the second half, where he recorded seven points, three rebounds and one assist in 12 minutes. Lucas matched his career-high in scoring with nine points while knocking down five free throws in a game for just the second time in his career.
In the postgame press conference, Bill Self was also complimentary of the play of Lucas, especially on a day when players like sophomores Frank Mason III and Brannen Greene really struggled to shoot the ball.
“[Landen] understands the game better than any big guy we have,” Self said. “Landen knows how to play [against the zone], and he was obviously good against the zone [today].”
Sure enough, with the Jayhawks down four with 10 minutes to go, it was Lucas' ability to read the zone that
changed the game. Brannen Greene missed a long three-point attempt, but Lucas got himself into position for an offensive rebound. His move was crucial given that there's often an extra second of hesitation as players figure out who they need to box out.
Lucas snagged the offensive board and went right back up. He missed the put-back attempt, but was in deep enough position that he was able to jump right back up one more time and score, while getting fouled. Sure enough, Lucas' basket sparked a 10-0 Kansas run, which effectively
ended the game as the Jayhawks took momentum. Baylor was forced to use its third and fourth timeouts, all before the under-eight media timeout, and that was that.
Kansas would lead the rest of the way, winning 74-64, while outscoring the Bears by 16 points in the second half. It wasn't just Self who noticed Lucas' impact in the second half either, as he had the full support of his teammates after the game.
["Lucas] helped us tremendously," junior forward Perry Ellis said. "He came out [in the second half] with great
effort and really helped us over the hump."
Overall, the performance by Lucas in the second half really decided the game, and it was something that definitely caught the eyes of analysts on Twitter. Rob Dauster of NBC Sports jokingly called Lucas the greatest player of all
time, adding that he was the "difference maker" for Kansas in the second half, while CBS' Seth Davis credited Lucas for sparking the comeback.
Moving forward, the Jayhawks will hit the road to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers, another game of uncertainty for Lucas. He could play 20
minutes against the press; he could be a "DNP." However, one thing won't change for Lucas — his mindset.
“It’s definitely not the easiest thing” Lucas said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs, [but] I just try to stay positive.”
Edited by Yu Kyung Lee
MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Southern California forward Alexy Vaioloama squeezes between Stanford forward Bonnie Samuelson (41) and forward Erica McCall on Friday in Stanford, Calif.
No.19 Stanford women dismiss UCLA 68-50
ASSOCIATED PRESS
STANFORD, Calif. — Bonnie Samuelson scored 24 points, her sister Karlie added 14 and No. 19 Stanford easily topped UCLA 68-50 on Sunday.
Bonnie made 8 of 12
3-pointers — a career-high
— and Karlie had four, as
Stanford (19-7, 11-3 Pac-
12) overcame cold shooting at the start of both halves to run away from UCLA (10-15, 6-8), which did not make a 3-pointer (0 for 3).
Karlie hit another one later and Stanford led comfortably at the half. 37-24.
Jordin Canada led UCLA with 10 points.
Stanford had just two baskets in the first six minutes of the second half, but UCLA only narrowed the gap to 10 points. Bonnie Samuelson hit a 3 to make it 45-32, and the Cardinal lead hit 20 with 8:25 to go.
stanford trailed 10-4 after 6 $ \frac{1}{2} $ minutes, but the Cardinal warmed up quickly, as a 9-0 spurt — started by a Karlie Samuelson 3-pointer — gave them their first lead of the night. Bonnie Samuelson then drilled three-straight 3s,
Track and field face solid competition over weekend
G.J. MELIA
@gimelia
The Kansas track and field team completed competitive meets in Ames, Iowa, and Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday with no victories, but multiple athletes recorded career-highs in their events, per University release.
In Fayetteville, the Jayhawks had two second-place finishers. In the women's high jump, senior Lindsay Vollmer jumped to a height of 5'11 1/2", while sophomore Grace Pickell tied for fifth in the same event. In the men's pole vault, junior Nick Maestretti tied for second, posting a height of 17'2 3/4".
Senior Michael Stigler headed the 4x400-meter relay team, which finished in 13th place. With Stigler were freshman Tre Daniels, senior Kenneth McCuin and junior Drew Matthews. The
team completed the relay in 3:10.42, the sixth-fastest time in school history.
At the ISU Classic, there were several Jayhawks with successful weekends. In the 800 meters, junior Kelli McKenna, sophomore Nashia Baker and redshirt freshman Lydia Saggau placed in spots 37-39 respectively.
"'[The competition] did a good job of giving us a realistic view of where our teams are as we head into the conference meet,"
STANLEY REDWINE Track and field coach
Both junior Hannah Richardson and freshman Alaina Schroeder finished with impressive times as well in their events. Richardson
finished 10th, running a time of 4:49.49 in the women's mile, while Schroeder timed in at 9:54.16, good enough for 23rd in the women's 3,000 meters.
Coach Stanley Redwine said both the Tyson Invitational and ISU Classic gave the track athletes a good barometer of competition heading into the Big 12 Championships.
“[The competition] did a good job of giving us a realistic view of where our teams are as we head into the conference meet.” Redwine said in the University release.
The team will have two weeks to prepare for the Big 12 Championships, which will take place in Ames, Iowa, on Feb. 27 and 28. Redwine said the team will use the time to heal injuries, as well as put in more work to be fully ready for the conference meet.
Edited by Lane Cofas
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