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MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SOCK 'EM BOP 'EM
ASHI FIGHT IFF/KANSAN
Sophomore Madi Hillis gains control of the ball during Saturday's spring game against Nebraska. The Jayhawks won 2-1.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Fatigue plagues Jayhawks in Big 12 loss to Baylor Bears
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
The Jayhawks had chances to reach the Big 12 tournament title game, but too often their legs trailed their plan.
"I was tired," junior forward Thomas Robinson said. "I can't speak for everybody else, but I guess we were out of gas."
Taylor often moseyed upcourt with the ball, head down, sweat shining from his forehead. Junior guard Travis Releford abandoned Baylor guard Brady Hesilp, who then had enough space for his fourth three-pointer. Baylor forward Quincy Acy outmuscled Robinson on a missed free throw to corral a game-clinching rebound.
"We know our legs were a little tired," senior guard Tyshawn Taylor said. "Everybody's legs were a little tired. It's March. We're playing back-to-back."
Maybe it was fatigue. Perhaps too much standing around. Senior guard Conner Teahan called it "air-headness."
The moments to salvage a comeback were there, just not executed.
"I thought we played a style that
After No. 3 Kansas (27-6, 16-2)
fell 81-72 to No. 12 Baylor, Self
easily rattled off a list of his team's
miscues.
is just good enough to get your butt beat," coach Bolt Self said.
"Average energy. Let them pass it wherever they want to," he said.
"Never dictate a tempo offensively. Crappy traps on the post. Couldn't remember scouting reports."
The Jayhawks surrendered 43 points in the first half, a total topped this season only by Missouri's 44 at Allen Fieldhouse. Fans may never forget how that game finished. This game, against a skilled Baylor team with the consistency of a blue moon, a team that badly lost twice to Kansas earlier this season, portrayed a less active side of the Jayhawks this time.
"They come out like a team that lost to us twice," Taylor said. "They made sure that it wasn't going to happen again."
Baylor forward Perry Jones III attacked the basket and showed his athleticism in the second half. On nearby possessions, Robinson occasionally walked around. On one play, he walked to set a screen, rolled outward and mishandled
a Taylor bounce pass. He then shared words with a referee and walked toward the other end of the floor. It wasn't the bouncy, physical Robinson that viewers have witnessed for much of the season.
The unusual pace infected several Jayhawks as both scorers and defenders.
"I know I fell asleep a couple of times," junior guard Elijah Johsnon said.
With the loss, the Jayhawks now await the NCAA Tournament. Most players echoed moderate indifference on the idea of getting a No.1 seed.
Johnson said the seed is irrelevant to him because all brackets have weak and tough teams.
Taylor noted that he's been on a No.1 seeded team the past two years and still doesn't have a national championship of his own.
"Our goal is not to win the Big 12 tournament championship," Taylor said. "It's to win a Big 12 championship, which we have. It's to win the national championship, which we still can."
Edited by Christine Curtin
WOMEN'S GOLF
Nugent leads team in Rio Verde Invitational
TREVOR GRAFF
tgraff@kansan.com
three players finish in the top 25 and that usually leads to us having a good team tournament. Katy had an outstanding final round and really led the way for us."
The Kansas women's golf team came from six strokes behind to win the Rio Verde Invitational with a score of 900 this weekend.
Senior Katy Nugent led the Jayhawks, tying the tournament record for lowest round with a three-under 68 and finishing individual runner-up. Nugent scored two straight rounds of 76 before finishing one shot behind tournament champion Kristen Hill of Akron.
"The team got off to a great start this morning and they played steady for the entire round which was key," said coach Erin O'Neil. "We had
Nugent's 68 is her career low-18-hole score. Her second-place finish is also a career high beating her fourth-place finish at the Palmetto Intercollegiate last fall.
"My short game was really solid all week," Nugent said. "I was able to capitalize on some good birdie opportunities today, I've been able to dedicate more time to golf this spring as my class load is the lightest it's been since my first semester at KU so it's great to see hard work pay off."
Junior Audrev Yowell carded a
career-best score of 224 over the tournament's three rounds, putting her in a tie for sixth place. Freshman Nadia Luttner carded a 229 that tied for 18th. Sophomore Thanutraff Boonrakasat tied for 21st with a score of 230, and sopomore Meghan Potte tied for 33rd with a 234.
The layhawks travel to Tucson, Ariz. March 23-24 to compete in the Mountain View Collegiate.
"This is a great confidence boost heading into the last part of our spring season," Coach O'Neil said. "I'm very happy to see all of the hard work paying off for the players."
— Edited by Pat Strathman
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Cash, Golden compete in diving championships
Kansas divers junior Christy Cash and sophomore Alvissa Golump competed in the Zone D
Diving Championships in Iowa
City, Iowa this weekend.
This competition was
the last chance
for the Kansas
divers to qualify
for the NCAA championships
Cash
Cash, making her second appearance in two years, saved her best performance for last. She finished in 18th place in the platform diving event Saturday with 214.55 points, a 30-point improvement from her score last year. Cash narrowly missed a spot in the finals.
Cash also placed 30th in the 1-meter event Thursday and 28th in the 3-meter event on Friday.
Golden made her first career
appearance at the zone diving event. After she finished in 35th place in the 1-meter and 38th place in the 3-meter, she finished Saturday in 28th place in the platform event.
Despite the tough competition, coach Eric Elliot said he's happy for his divers and the experience they gained.
"They see that they're not far out of where they need to be to be competitive with these other divers," Elliot said. "They know what they need to do now. They just have to put in the training and gain the confidence
knowing they're not far out."
Elliot said the team will take some time off after a long season, but will continue training for next year soon enough.
-Alec Tilson
Golden
OBITUARY
Kansas legend passes away at 81 years old
Multi-sport Kansas legend Charlie Hoag passed away Thursday evening at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. Hoag was 81 years old.
Hoag, a native of Oak Park, Ill., attended the University from 1950 to 1953 and participated in football, basketball, baseball and track and field.
He played basketball for coach Phog Allen from 1950 to 1952 and helped lead the 1952 Jayhawks to a Big Seven Conference Championship and NCAA National Championship. He tallied nine points and four rebounds in the title-game victory against St. John's. That summer, Hoag was one of seven Jayhawks on the gold medal team at the Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
Hoag was a captain of the 1952 football team and a Big Seven All- Conference running back in 1950 and 1952.
BASKETBALL
—Max Rothman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Missouri caps off season with Big 12 championship
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri is leaving the Big 12 on top.
The Tigers (30-4), who led from start to finish, will head off to the Southeastern Conference next year savoring a title in coach Frank Haith's first season in charge.
Kim English capped a phenomenal conference tournament with 19 points, Phil Pressey added 15 points and eight assists and the fifth-ranked Tigers beat No. 12 Baylor 90-75 on Saturday night to win their second championship in the past four years.
English wound up 29 of 40 from the field in a virtuoso performance
in Kansas City, and was named the tournament's most valuable player. Michael Dixon added 17 points, and Ricardo Ratliffe and Marcus Denmon finished with 15 each.
Perry Jones III led Baylor (27-7) with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Brady Heslip scored 14 and Deuce Bello came off the bench to add 13 for the Bears, who were again turned away one win short of their first conference tournament title since 1950.
The Bears also lost to Missouri in the 2009 Big 12 title game.
Missouri's decision to leave for the SEC after this season has drawn outrage from fans of opposing teams because it jeopardized the future of the Big 12. But the
Tigers made themselves at home in the Sprint Center, delivering the final punch as they walked out the door.
Thousands of fans clad in black and gold even booed interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas when he gave away the trophy, and chants of "SEC! SEC!" arose in the closing minutes.
Pressey also made the all-tournament team along with Jones and Heslip from Bavlor.
The two teams waged two memorable games during the regular season, Missouri coming out on top both times. The first was an 89-88 victory in Waco in January, when the Tigers made 10 free throws in the closing minute to hold off a furious rally.