2008-2009 KANSAS BASKETBALL
9
JANUARY 10,2009
Jayhawks stumble against Spartans
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
EAST LANSING, Mich. — In basketball, there are runs. And then, there are runaways.
Michigan State ran away from Kansas in its 75-62 victory by outscoring the Jayhawks 19-1 during a 10-minute stretch in the first half. Despite Jayhawk rallies in the second half that cut the deficit to as low as nine points, they could never recover from trailing 37-18 at halftime.
"We just tried to keep chipping at it, chipping at it and it worked", sophomore center Cole Aldrich said. "But that first half — it was just too much for us."
Kansas coach Bill Self felt confident before the game and four minutes into it. Self thought his team would hang with No. 8 Michigan State (13-2) and have a chance to win at the end. At the first media timeout, Kansas (11-4) led 11-6.
Reality started to crash as hard as the snow
was falling in the blizzard outside the Breslin Center. Michigan State sophomore guard Kalin Lucas, who finished with a team-high 22 points, ignited his team with two three-pointers over the next few minutes.
"The rest of the half, they were terrific," Self said. "And we played about as poorly as we could play."
Kansas failed to make a field goal for the next 10 minutes. Aldrich botched two alley-oop dunks on passes from junior guard Sherron Collins. Sophomore guard Brady Morningstar bricked a three-pointer.
Self was desperate. He resorted to nearly clearing his bench in the first half. At one point, three players who didn't even appear in Kansas' last game — senior center Matt Kleinmann, junior guard Tyrone Appleton and freshman forward Quintrell Thomas — were on the floor together.
"When you're playing that poorly, why don't you try something?" Self said. "That's what we tried to do and obviously, we didn't score points from it."
Self didn't use any gimmicks in the second half. If Kansas wanted came back, it was going to do it with a monster effort from Collins.
Collins roared out of the locker room with seven points in just more than three minutes to cut the lead to 39-27. Collins scored a game-high 25 points — with all but five of them coming in the second half — with eight assists and eight turnovers.
"I think we competed as hard as we've competed all year in the second half," Collins said. "We've just got to find a way to do that in the first half."
Michigan State prevented Kansas from coming any closer than 12 points away in the middle of the second half with a balanced effort.
"One thing we can take away from this game is the way we competed in the second half." Aldrich said. "I thought we came out and played really well."
But Kansas could never catch up after the head start it allowed Michigan State.
Photo courtesy of The State News
Michigan State's Raymar Morgan pushes the ball against Kansas' Tyrel Reed. Reed's 10 points couldn't prevent the Jayhawks' 13-point defeat.
KANSAS 87 71 KANSAS STATE
JANUARY 13,2009
Taylor erupts for 20 points in Sunflower Showdown
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Kansas coach Bill Self thought Tyshawn Taylor might have contracted a dreaded case of the freshman slump. Taylor felt like he had lost confidence.
Collins knew all that talk was nonsense. Collins, who says Taylor is almost like a little brother, expected him to break out. Collins was right. Taylor scored 20 points and had four rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead Kansas to an 87-71 victory against Kansas State in its Big 12 Conference opener.
The freshman point guard had only scored 10 points with two assists and four turnovers in Kansas' last two games. Everyone seemed to be worried about Taylor. Except junior guard Sherron Collins.
"I think this game put Tyshawn on the map," Collins said. "Everyone is going to have to respect him."
If the question before the game was who will
emerge as Kansas' third option behind Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich, Taylor gave a resounding answer.
Collins said Self challenged the Jayhawks to get off to a fast start by telling them in practice that the Wildcats would come out and "punk" them early. It was the other way around.
The Jayhawks jumped out to an 18-0 lead to start the game behind 13 combined points from Taylor, Collins and Aldrich.
Taylor was the primary reason why Kansas State never took the lead. Among his brightest moments was a blocked three-point attempt by Kansas State's Fred Brown that led to junior guard Mario Little's first field goal at Kansas on the other end.
"When we hit them with it, they were just surprised," Collins said. "They couldn't counter it very well."
His aggressiveness paid off as he got to the free-throw line for 13 shots. Taylor made nine of them.
"I just felt like I had to step up," Taylor said.
WASHBURN 2009 Summer Sessions
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
APRIL 27, 2009