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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Perry Ellis reaches 1,000-point milestone
DEREK SKILLETT
@derek_skillett
It didn't take long for Kansas junior forward Perry Ellis to make history against Baylor. With 12:06 left in the first half, Ellis nailed a jumper to give him 1,001 career points. That made him the 11th player in the Bill Self era to score 1,000 or more points. This feat is more impressive considering he averaged only 5.8 points-per-game in 13.6 minutes as a freshman.
With 18 points in the game, Ellis now has 1,015 career points, placing him in 54th place all time in Kansas scoring.
"It's a great accomplishment and I'm just blessed to be in this position," Ellis said after the game. "It's really an honor and feels great. I'm just trying to keep getting better and better and keep winning."
All of Ellis' 18 points were needed as the Jayhawks faced a 13-point first-half deficit. The No. 8 Jayhawks (21-4, 10-2) ended up defeating No. 16 Baylor (18-7, 6-6) 74-6 in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
the Bears got off to a hot start, opening up a 23-10 lead on the Jayhawks in the opening minutes. The Jayhawks found their footing in the second half,
outscoring the Bears 47-31 en route to the win.
"They hung 23 on us in the first nine minutes of the game," coach Bill Self said. "After that, they missed some open looks that they made early and we defended them and rebounded better.
"The biggest thing in the second half was they shot a low percentage, we did a much better job on the glass and we attacked their zone a lot better."
One of the biggest surprises of the game came from the performance of redshirt sophomore forward Landen Lucas, who scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds, including three offensive rebounds, off the bench for the Jayhawks.
"He was great," Self said. "He got 14 minutes, but he made the most of them. He's worked hard. There are certain things that Landen does better than any big guy we have because he understands the game better than any big guy we have. For him to have the confidence to shoot it, it's always nice to see it go in because that is a big moment for a youngster."
The Jayhawks held Baylor's junior forward Rico Gathers, who is currently averaging 12.6 rebounds-per-game, to eight rebounds, including only two offensive rebounds.
"He made some hard shots.
Of the six baskets he made, I bet you three of them were shots we would hope he would take and then he delivered." Self said of Gathers' performance. "If we did one good thing on him, it was he only got two offensive rebounds. But we didn't do a great job on him, I thought he played very well. I thought the whole team played well."
But the afternoon belonged to Ellis.
"My mom was up there, just happy and she was happy for me," Ellis said. "I just go out there and just play hard for my family, coaches, fans, teammates and everybody. That's what I try to do."
Up next, the Jayhawks will travel to Morgantown, W.V., for a Big Monday matchup.
"Tomorrow we'll prepare in a 30-minute practice," Self said. "If you're going to play West Virginia and only practice for 30 minutes, you'd be better doing it the second game. Certainly Wayne, Kelly, Devonte' and Brannen need to show up. Hopefully our guys go in with the mindset to score instead of survive."
Edited by Kayla Schartz
BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
Junior forward Perry Ellis attempts a layup in the win against Baylor. Ellis reached the 1,000 point mark with 18 points
BRENT BURFORD/KANSAN
Kansas senior outfielder Michael Suitor makes it to second base in Kansas' win against Grand Canyon last spring.
Tigers sweep Jayhawks in season opening series
JOEY ANGUIANO
@joey_anguiano
Despite taking the lead in the second inning and building on it in the fourth, the Kansas Jayhawks (0-3) were unable to avoid the sweep this weekend in Baton Rouge, La. Kansas found itself behind the second-ranked LSU Tigers (3-0) after a sixth inning that saw the Tigers score four runs.
The game looked promising early for the Jayhawks, as sophomore Sean Rackoski started for the first time in his career. Rackoski only allowed one run through the first four innings and seven hits through the duration of his appearance.
Sophomore Michael Tinsley started the scoring for the Jayhawks early in the second inning after getting walked and taking advantage of an LSU error to score. Senior. Dakot-
Smith then followed suit, scoring on a wild pitch and taking the lead for the Jayhawks 2-1.
Rackoski wasn't the only one who had a career first today, as senior Blair Beck hit his first career home run as a Jayhawk in the fourth inning, expanding Kansas' lead to two runs. Then in the sixth, with the game tied at three, the Jayhawks took their final lead of the game as freshman Matt McLaughlin was hit in after recording his first career hit.
It proved to be not enough, as LSU scored four runs in the sixth. LSU sophomore Jake Fraley started the rally for the Tigers with a single, followed by freshman Bryce Jordan being walked. The Tigers' senior designated hitter Chris Sciambra then hit Fraley home with an RBI single to tie the game at four. Senior Jared Foster pinch ran for Jordan, and was hit home on another RBI
single, this time from junior Mark Laird. The Tigers hit Laired and Sciambra both in before the end of the inning on RBI singles, giving LSU a 7-4 lead.
While the weekend ended in a sweep for the Jayhawks, playing the second ranked team on their home field early in the season is a great source of growth for the team. Hopefully after this series, Kansas can take the experience gained and put it to use against its upcoming Pac-12 opponents later this week in Arizona.
— Edited by Kayla Schartz
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