Volume 124 Issue 106
kansan.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
J
RESULTS FROM NFL COMBINES
Former linebacker's performance times PAGE 10
Edited by Jeff Karr
Johnson
COMMENTARY
When Robinson and Taylor both sat down, they deserved to finally smile. Through the criticisms and shaky start, this group of inexperienced players came together and became a team — the best team in the Big 12 conference.
And their smiles showed it.
Proving criticism wrong
While Kansas was picked to win the conference before the season started, the players still felt and heard the doubting hush around Lawrence, and rightfully so.
Just 48 hours after that emotional overtime victory over Missouri Kansas beat Oklahoma State 70-58, and clinched an outright 2012 Big 12 championship.
"We were too tired to do anything on Saturday," Bill Self said. "We didn't celebrate much, but we celebrated some in the locker room just now."
STILLWATER OKLA. When Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson walked into the post game press conference, their smiles could not escape their faces. The reason both players' smiles shined a bit brighter than normal sat just below the grins themselves.
Boasting shirts that read, "Big 12 conference 8STR8 Champs," Taylor, Robinson and the entire Kansas team finally got to celebrate cementing their place in Kansas history.
The students weren't the only ones whose voices were still hoarse Monday. Tyshawn Taylor's scratchy voice could not be ignored after the game, and the reason he gave for his vocal chords' struggles was a just one
"Celebration, baby," Taylor said. "Celebration, that's it."
8 STR8
This team deserved to rejoice in its victory. Many doubted them from the start, and until these past two games, that doubt hung over Allen Fieldhouse.
But now that's all erased, and this unlikely team of Big 12 champions will be one that people should and will remember.
But what needs to be remembered as much as the players and the games, is what Bill Self magically pulled off once again.
Through the bruises and bumps of this season, he took an inconsistent Tyshawn Taylor and made him the leader of a team that is 25-5 this season. He took Thomas Robinson from an averaged 7.6 points points per game in 2011, to the possible Player of the Year Award winner.
They'll remember the three freshmen that never played. They'll remember the showdown with Duke and turnover Taylor. They'll remember Taylor's incredible run in Big 12 play. They'll remember the Missouri game - for a long, long time. And most of all, they'll remember Thomas Robinson.
And when Taylor sat down after the Jayhawks had just made sure that they wouldn't be sharing their Big 12 trophy with anyone else, it's clear he felt a lift off his shoulders.
"It feels amazing, because a lot of people didn't think wed be this good this year," Taylor said. "Our goal was always to win the Big 12 championship."
And he somehow won with a team whose bench consisted of one former walk-on and one current walk-on — Conner Teahan and Justin Wesley and a transfer, Kevin Young.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONS
Taylor scored 27 points to lead the Jayhawks to eighth conference title
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
STILWATER, Okla.—Two days after Missouri, one Big 12 season later, the Jayhawks have done it yet again. And now it's outright and unquestionable.
"We got eight, baby," junior forward Thomas Robinson said. "This one feels good, too."
After Monday night's 70-58 victory at Oklahoma State in Gallagher-Iba Arena, No. 3 Kansas (25-5, 15-2), claimed its eighth consecutive Big 12 title for good.
As Robinson spoke, senior guard Tyshawn Taylor took a hat off his head. He turned it around and read "8 STR8 champs," running his fingers along the seams and smiling.
Taylor had reason to smile. He had conquered the conference that pundits said was never supposed to belong to the Jayhawks. As the season progressed, he
As the season decreased his turnovers and started scoring more. On Monday, he dropped 27 points on the Cowboys.
"Every time we came down and made a big play. Tyshawn
He can shoot the rock." Taylor said. "If he gets any daylight, he's putting it up and usually it's good."
would come down and hit a big shot, Oklahoma State's senior guard Keiton Page said.
"I'm glad he's a senior" coach Bill Said, said.
"Every time we came down and made a big play. Tyshawn would come down a hit a big shot."
Yet as Page and freshman guard Brian Williams continued to score, the rest of the Cowboys combined for 9 points and a 17.6 field goal percentage. Oklahoma State forwards and centers didn't score a point.
On his senior day, Page scored 29 points and hit seven of his 14 three-point shots. At just five-foot-nine, which some call a generous listing, Page used deceptive dribbles and fakes to evade defenders. Taylor and Johnson often tightly guarded Page, but he still made shots.
The low-scoring affair suited the Jayhawks just fine after Saturday's overtime victory against Missouri, which Self called "the most emotional regular season game ever."
"We were gassed, but it wasn't a fast-paced game," Self said. "Fortunately for us, there weren't a lot of possessions."
Self said that with the quick turnaround, this game was one of the season's greatest challenges. The layhawks had just 15 minutes of stationary射击 on Sunday, and a brief amount of time to warm up on Monday. The game wasn't filled with energy, it was more a game to fight
KEITON PAGE
OSU senior guard
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
through and finish with a victor,22
style points be damned.
Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor hits a three-point shot during the second half of Monday night's win in Stillwater, Okla. The Jayhawks defeated the OSU Cowboys 70-58, sealing their eighth Big 12 title.
The Jayhawks did just that, and now they've got another conference title to show for it.
"You're supposed to win at home when you have a crowd like we have," Self said. "But for them to go 7-2 on the road, that's pretty special."
Edited by Gabrielle Schock
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Goodrich sets an example for team
RYAN MCCARTHY
rmccarthy@kansan.com
Angel Goodrich knows what's coming.
Even though the opposing guard charges forward toward the hoop, she sees the impending drive a few steps back while everybody else scrambles around the court.
Goodrich slides her feet parallel to the player, bracing for the looming impact. The player's elbow jabs into Goodrich's chest.
Instead of panicking, she finds the spot to set up for the charge.
As Goodrich falls, her chin tucks tightly underneath her head as the rest of her body falls back onto the court.
Goodrich lands on the ground fully sprawled out on the wooden floor. She turns her head to see what direction the referee points.
The official motions in the other direction with his opposite hand behind his head signaling an offensive foul, just like many times before.
The Kansas bench jumps up and down in excitement.
Goodrich simply grins.
It has become her signature move. The ultimate sacrifice for the team, one that won't be found on the stat sheet next to points and assists.
Taking a charge is nothing new for Goodrich. The junior guard from Tahlequah, Okla., has been doing it her entire basketball career.
MASTER OF THE CHARGE
In her early playing days, flopping, when a defensive player makes intentional contact with an offensive player to get a call for her team, was something Goodrich could get away with.
But at the college level, star players don't always get the same treatment as they do in secondary school. So, when she became a jayhawk, some changes to her signature play were needed.
"Ive been taking charges since high school, but high school, I'd be able to flop and everybody knew me for flopping," Goodrich said. "Then I got the point where I couldn't flop anymore. Now I have to let them hit me."
SEE GOODRICH PAGE 8
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
4
1