PAGE 8
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS TIPOFF
AT A GLANCI
The regular season is through, another Big 12 regular season title is in the books, and now it's onto the postseason for No. 3 Kansas (26-5, 16-2). The Jayhawks begin their Big 12 tournament today at 2 p.m. against Texas A&M, a team they defeated twice this season in rather ugly fashion. In the first meeting between these teams Jan. 23 at Allen Fieldhouse, the Aggies led 30-28 at halftime, but eventually lost 64-54. In the other meeting on Feb. 22 in College Station, Texas, the Aggies nearly erased a 21-point second-half deficit, but the Jayhawks held on and won 66-58.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Travis Releford, guard
In the regular season finale on Saturday at the Fieldhouse, Texas guard J'Covan Brown scored 33 points, 29 of which he tallied in the second half. While junior guard Elijah Johnson was
Releford
partly to blame, the main reason for Brown's success was Releford's failure to stop him. Coach Bill Self said that Releford has lacked the aggression that helped him thrive earlier in the season. Matched up tomorrow against Elston Turner and Khris Middleton, Releford will need to play with passion to succeed as a lockdown defender.
How far can they go?
QUESTION MARK
The Jayhawks wowed even Self by losing just twice during a grueling Big 12 Conference schedule. They've had a few days to rest their legs, will the Jayhawks be fired up for the last stretch before the NCAA Tournament? To help save his team's legs, Self may assign extra minutes to forwards Kevin Young and Justin Wesley and guard Nadir Tharpe. This tournament will be about more than just winning games; it will be about staying healthy and energized for a long run in March.
HEAR YE. HEAR YE
"There are several teams in here that can get hot for three days or four days. I just hope we're the one that's the hottest."
—Bill Selft
Taylor
KANSAS (25-5,16-2) STARTERS
Johnson
TYSHAWN TAYLOR. GUARD
Dash Harris is fully healthy and certainly has the talent to hinder most guards, but quite simply, Taylor hasn't been most guards this year. He's been a scoring force who creates for his teammates and doesn't turn the ball over like old times. Harris is fast, but not fast like Taylor.
Releford
Jayhawks hope for third win Aggies struggle with inconsistency NO.3 KANSAS VS.TEXAS A&M 2 P.M., SPRINT CENTER, KANSAS CITY
ELUAH JOHNSON, GUARD
After Saturday's victory against Texas, Self said that Johnson looked sick. Self wasn't satisfied with Johnson's defense on J'Covan Brown. Johnson will face another challenge this afternoon in Elston Turner, the 6-foot-5 guard who can score from all over the court.
TRAVIS RELEFORD, GUARD
Robinson
Khris Middleton scored 23 points the last time these teams met. It will be Releford's job to make sure that doesn't happen again. If Releford is diving for loose balls and deflecting passes, the Jayhawks will be able to run and create easy scoring opportunities against a tough Aggies defense.
THOMAS ROBINSON, FORWARD
He fouled out in College Station earlier this season and after the game, Self was infuriated. Self thought that Robinson's technical foul was "inexplicable." Now Robinson has a chance to redeem himself on a neutral court. Still neck-and-neck with Kentucky's Anthony Davis for player of the year honors, Robinson knows that this is not the time to ease up.
Withey
In both games this season against the Aggies, Withey was exactly what his team needed, averaging 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6 blocks. The Aggies like to extend possessions and eat into the shot clock. Withey will help keep them away from the hoop when they do finally shoot it.
JEFF WITHEY, CENTER
TEXAS A&M (27-4, 4-14) STARTERS
ELSTON TURNER. GUARD
Turner leads the Aggies with 13.8 points per game and had 14 points against Oklahoma last night. He was held to 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting in the last meeting with Kansas while playing 38 minutes but had 24 points in the first meeting on Jan. 23.
Turner
DASH HARRIS, GUARD
Harris isn't a great scorer but he might be the most important player on the Aggie roster. The senior point guard is in his third season of significant playing time and he's the leader offensively for Texas A&M. Missing seven games in the middle of the conference season was a crushing blow to the Aggie season.
Harris
KEITH DAVIS, CENTER
Davis is as close to invisible on offense as you can get, averaging just 1.3 points per game this season. He hasn't scored in the last five games and has a total of four points in the last ten. He's a big body down low and not much else.
KHRIS MIDDLETON. FORWARD
Middleton is the one of the best offensive weapons for Texas A&M and is always a threat to have a huge night, not unlike his 23-point performance against Kansas recently. If he's able to get Thomas Robinson or Jeff Withey in foul trouble it could give the Aggies a chance at an upset.
Middleton
DAVID LOUBEAU. FORWARD
The senior forward has finished with double figures in each of his last five games while playing more than 30 minutes on just one occasion. He shot 71.4 percent from the field against Oklahoma Wednesday night and had 15 points for the second straight game against the Sooners.
Loubeau
Prediction Kansas 67, Texas A&M 63
KORY CARPENTER
kcarpenter@kansan.com
TEXAS
A&M
TIPOFF
ATM
AT A GLANCE
Injuries and inconsistent play derailed Texas A&M's chances of living up to its pre-season hype. The Aggies were picked by conference coaches to win the Big 12 along with Kansas but finished the year in ninth place. They ended the regular season on a five-game losing streak and had zero momentum heading into the conference tournament but bounced back to knock off eighth-seeded Oklahoma, 62-53 last night in an opening round game. At 14-17 overall, the Aggies will have to win the tournament to earn an NCAA tournament bid. They lost both regular season games against Kansas but both games were competitive throughout. The second meeting in College Station went down to the wire before Kansas eventually pulled away, 66-58.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Khris Middleton, forward
Middleton
Middleton averages 12.4 points per game and has been a solid contributor all three seasons in College Station. He had 14 points and seven rebounds.
in the first round victory over Oklahoma and will need to have a big night for the Aggies to pull off the upset against Kansas this afternoon. He had 23 points in the second meeting with the Jayhawks on Feb. 22, his highest scoring game of the conference season
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
QUESTION MARK
Will the offense show up?
The Aggies have struggled to score all season and averaged just 56 points in two losses to Kansas. Bill Self said Texas A&M plays like Kansas with a defensive-first mentality. All the defense in the world is useless if you can't crack the 60-point mark, a number they've surpassed just 14 times this season. Junior guard Elston Turner and junior forward Khris Middleton can score consistently but after that there's a big drop off in offensive production.
HEAR YE. HEAR YE.
"We feel confident because we've played Kansas close. We feel like we can beat them. It's going to be tough, but I feel like with the way everything is going we can get the win."
—Elston Turner (via the Houston Chronicle)
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