PAGE 4B
MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012
THE UNIVERS
Kansas 35-37 | 72 Baylor 43-38 | 81
JAYHAWK STAT LEADERS
Points
Taylor 20
Rebounds
Assists
Robinson
9
Taylor 3
KANSAS
Player Pts FG-FGA Rebs A TO's
Thomas Robinson 15 6-14 9 3 4
Tyshawn Taylor 20 8-15 4 3 3
Jeff Withey 11 3-8 7 2 1
Elijah Johnson 15 6-16 1 2 0
Travis Releford 6 3-5 7 2 1
Conner Teahan 0 0-2 1 1 1
Kevin Young 5 0-1 5 0 0
Justin Wesley 0 0-0 0 0 0
Totals 72 26-61 37 12 10
BAYLOR
Player Pts FG-FGA Rebs A TO's
Perry Jones III 18 7-16 7 2 0
Quincy Acy 11 4-11 6 2 1
Quincy Miller 13 3-8 8 1 1
Brady Heslip 12 4-7 3 2 0
Pierre Jackson 13 3-9 5 7 2
Gary Franklin 0 0-2 1 0 1
Deuce Bello 2 1-2 1 0 1
A.J. Walton 12 2-5 6 2 3
Totals 81 24-60 37 16 9
Tyshawn Taylor, Senior guard
GAME TO REMEMBER
Taylor seemed exhausted like the rest of the Jayhawks, but he somehow managed to score 20 points. When his team was desperate for points, Taylor drove to the hoop with conviction, aiming for two points or at the very least, two free throws. Like his team, he wasn't perfect. He made a few bad passes and often couldn't keep his typically speedy pace. However Taylor was the best of the bunch.
Taylor
GAME TO FORGET
After thoroughly outplaying Baylor, forward Perry Jones III in the first two matchups between the teams, Robinson faltered. He didn't possess his typical mean streak. He was often seen walking around and getting outworked for rebounds, including a key rebound at the end of the game that would have given Kansas the ball down five points, but instead extended Baylor's lead to seven.
Thomas Robinson, junior forward
QUOTE OF THE GAME
Robinson
"I thought we played a style that is just good enough to get your butt beat."
Bill Self, coach
Self
KEY STATS
From three-point range, Baylor shot 47.4 percent while Kansas shot just 15.4 percent.
47. 4-15.4%
0 Outside of Kevin Young's five points, all from free throws, the Kansas bench was held scoreless.
KANSAS 72
4-4 The Jayhawks are 4-4 this season when trailing at halftime.
NOTES
- Kansas had four players score in double figures for the 14th time this season.
- Kansas is now 10-2 against Baylor under Bill Self
- Tyshawn Taylor scored over 20 points for the 12th time this season.
- Jeff Withey's 108 blocks rank second in school history for a single season.
MEN'S BASKET
Home away from home isn't enough
?
KORY CARPENTER
kcarpenter@kansan.com
And being the only team with the entire band, cheerleading squad and dance team present made it seem like a de facto home game for Kansas.
While the comforts of Allen Fieldhouse were some 40 miles away, Kansas still held a sizeable advantage in fan support during Friday's Big 12 Tournament semifinal match with Baylor in Kansas City. The Sprint Center was a sea of blue with specks of yellow, green, and black mixed in.
"They came out like a team that lost to us twice," senior guard
They just didn't play like it.
Tyshawn Taylor said. "They came out ready to play and I don't know what we did different. Maybe we weren't as aggressive." Baylor eventually won 81-72.
The Bears controlled the final eight minutes of the first half and took an eight-point lead to the locker room. They opened up the lead to 13 less than two minutes into the second half of play.
One thing is certain, though, Kansas will be watching the tournament championship from Lawrence for just the seventh time in its 16-year existence.
An 18-3 Kansas run closed the gap midway through the second half, but it wasn't enough in the end.
Self added after the game that if Friday night better prepares his team for NCAA tournament games next week, it would have been a 'good loss.'
"We didn't rebound the ball," coach Bill Self said. "Those are man plays. Even though the battle of the boards was even, I don't think anybody thought that we controlled
the glass. I think the perception would be that they controlled it."
baytor played as many minutes last night as we did." Self said. "I ain't buying into that stuff. If you're tired in that particular situation, then the reason you're probably tired is because your mind or your preparation level is such that allows you to be tired."
Kansas' stamina was questioned on its second day of back-to-back games. The Jayhawks are noticeably thin with a bench basically consisting of two players.
The lack of energy could have been for a number of reasons such as The game's outcome may have had little effect on the Jayhawks' seed in the NCAA tournament.
Taylor said the extra day of rest will be beneficial.
He wasn't, however, happy with how they earned that rest.
"Going forward that could hurt us," Taylor said. "We've got to be ready to play from the jump ball."
Edited by Tanvi Nimkar
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
Junior forward Kevin Young follows coach Bill Self and assistant coach Joe Dooley off the court after congratulating Bavlor on their victory over the Jawhaws Friday night.
Junior forward Thomas Robinson takes Baylor's Perry Jones Ill to the basket during the first half of Friday night's Big 12 Tournament matchup.
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN