Volume 124 Issue 85
kansan.com
Monday, January 30, 2012
COMMENTARY
Kansas should still have its sights on the Final Four. How did last year's Final Four teams fare in conference road games?
Life on the road is tough
Virginia Commonwealth — best muttered under the breath followed by several curse words — lost road games at Georgia State, Northeastern and Drexel in conference. Not exactly elite programs.
The way a team finishes its season plays a much larger role in how it fares come tournament time. Three of the four Final Four teams last year won their conference tournaments.
I say: the bigger teams in last year's Final Four also struggled in conference road games.
Perhaps the best thing about college basketball is that each team controls its destiny. Keep winning and you'll keep playing. You can't be left behind by computers or uninformed voters.
Quality teams, even ones with an extremely thin bench like Kansas, will lose road games against lesser opponents in conference play. It's not quite as reliable as death and taxes, but it's pretty close.
Teams play NCAA tournament games on a neutral court for a reason.
Edited by Pat Strathman
Losing a road game in conference, like the Jayhawks did in Ames, Iowa on Saturday, means little.
The harsh reality, though: college basketball's regular season isn't all that important in determining a national champion.
Here's one: the 2008 national champions, Kansas. That year, the Jayhawks lost road games to Texas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Texas and KSU made the tournament; OSU made the NIT.
Butler lost four times on the road in the Horizon: to UW-Milwaukee, Wright State, Valparaiso and Youngstown State, which finished 9-21 overall.
So let's not turn Saturday's loss into some kind of tragic blow that proves Kansas can't hang with the big boys. One lackluster effort on the road in a hyped environment, in the bigger scheme of things, means nothing.
You say: those teams are mid-majors. Hard to fairly compare teams from the CAA and the Horizon to teams from BCS conferences.
Connecticut dropped five games on the road in the Big East: to Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, St. John's, Louisville and West Virginia. Tough teams, certainly, but the Huskies finished 5-5 on the road.
You say: that's just one year. Last year was a fluke.
I say: let's assume Kansas loses two more conference road games and keeps winning at Allen Fieldhouse to go 15-3 in conference. The Jayhawks lose two out of these three games: at Missouri, at Baylor and at Kansas State.
Kentucky lost six games on the road in the SEC and finished with a 10-6 conference record.
Is there another team that lost three road conference games — one to a fringe NCAA tournament team like Iowa State — and went undefeated at home?
IOWA STATE 72, KANSAS 64
HILTON MAGIC STRIKES
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
Max Rothman
Ames, Iowa — Royce White, Iowa State's sophomore forward with a full menu of skills, woke up on Saturday morning after having nightmares of missing free throws.
"It becomes like an island up there when you're on a bad streak," White said of his struggles at the free throw line.
So he went to the gym early and shot free throws with his coach, Fred Hoiberg. White's teammates encouraged him the entire day, even during the game, and he made the shots when they counted most.
With 1:42 left on the clock and Iowa State leading No. 5 Kansas by three points, White drained his final two shots from the line.
After one of his six converted free throws. White walked from the free throw line to underneath the hoop, then looked up at the net.
"That was for Thomas," he said of junior forward Thomas Robinson. "He said I was going to miss them."
White, who tallied 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists, not Robinson, the national player of the candidate, who was the best player in Saturday's 72-64 upset over Kansas (17-4, 7-1) posting 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
The Jayhawks' 23 fouls resulted in 34 free throw attempts for the Cyclones. Free points stung Kansas, especially after it was outrebounded 36-23.
"Royce was a monster down there," Holberg said.
Rojee was a monster down there. Holberg said.
Robinson, who normally vacuums rebounds with two hands, grabbed a pedestrian seven rebounds. On
Junior forward Thomas Robinson raises his hands asking for a foul from the referees during Saturday's game against Iowa State. Robinson had a quiet night with just 13 points and seven rebounds in the Jayhawks 64-72 defeat.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
No.1 Bears too much for Jayhawks
KATHLEEN GIER kgier@kansan.com
Last week the Jayhawks talked about tweaking their offense and defense to face Brittney Griner and the Baylor Bears. Carolyn Davis stepped out for a series of 19-foot jump shots and CeCe Harper hit two three pointers as Kansas worked in this adjusted game plan.
However, No. 1 Baylor was up 20 points at the half and with a 10-4 run out of the break, it easily defeated Kansas in a 74-46 victory in Waco. The Jayhawks fell to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play.
"We killed ourselves," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "We didn't pressure the ball and that is such a big part of post defense and even more magnified with her."
Junior forward Carolyn Davis extended her range with three jumpers at the top of the key. She improved this part of her game to score over Griner.
I knew I was good enough to knock that down and be successful," Davis said. "I was just trying to be confident and grab the ball when it came to me."
"I had been practicing a lot and
the first 10 points and blocked two shots for Kansas in those first eight minutes, but sat out the remainder of the half.
Freshman forward Chelsea Gardner entered the game for Davis and was met with a quick block from Griner. Gardner, Tania Jackson and Aishah Sutherland worked in the post, but they were outscored 54-20 in the paint. Griner finished with a game-high 28 points and shot 12-for-15 from the field. The Jayhawks were also outrebounded 46-29 and allowed 14 second chance points.
The Jayhawks switched between a man-to-man and diamond-and-one defense in the hopes of slowing down the Bears' attack, but Baylor's balance proved too much for Kansas.
"You get nothing inside and you are shooting tough twos and threes and she is standing under the rim so then they just throw it up to her and score," Henrickson said.
"It was just too many easy opportunities when we break down
Davis led the Jayhawks with 12 points and two blocks, but played limited minutes after picking up two fouls with 12 minutes left in the first half. Davis scored six of
BONNIE HENRICKSON Kansas women's basketball coach
defensively to hang around." Henrickson said.
Sophomore guard CeCe Harper hit two three-pointers and a pair of free throws for her career-high
points. She has been playing re minutes this season as the st guard off the bench.
SEE WOMEN'S PAGE 12
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baylor guard Lindsay Palmer loses control of the ball moving it up court as Palmer collides into Kansas' Ceece Harper in the second half of an NCAA women's college basketball game Saturday in Waco, Texas. Baylor defeated Kansas 74-46.