2008-2009 KANSAS BASKETBALL
7
Jayhawks stunned in KC
BY CASE KEEFER
ckeefer@kansan.com
Weston White/KANSAN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. As the Massachusetts players rushed onto the floor at the Sprint Center in celebration, Sherron Collins lay there face down and motionless.
Collins, a junior guard, didn't want to get up. He had no desire to look at what was happening above him, where the Minutemen congratulated each other with chest bumps and the scoreboard read Massachusetts 61 Kansas 60.
"I got up there and I thought it was in," Collins said. "It just came out."
Sophomore Cole Aldrich sits stunned on the floor with junior Sherron Collins laying on his stomach. Coach Bill Self blamed Kansas' loss on poor execution.
Collins hurt. Less than 10 seconds earlier, he missed a left-handed layup in traffic underneath the basket that would have given Kansas the victory.
But it wasn't the final moment. Sophomore guard Conner Teahan grabbed the rebound on the left block with three seconds remaining and three Minutemen surrounded him.
Teahan hesitated. He didn't get a shot off
and the ball was knocked away. As players from both teams scrambled for the ball, the buzzer sounded.
"It had no chance to go in my perspective," Self said. "At least for me, I didn't think we executed. I didn't think it was good judgment on the last play."
KANSAS 67 A84 ARIZONA
DECEMBER 23, 2009
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer.kansan.com
Wildcats dominate in Tucson
Photo courtesy of The Daily Wildcat
Arizona's Jordan Hill leaps over Kansas' Cole Aldrich and Marcus Morris. Hill dominated the Jayhawks with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Kansas cruises past Temple
PUSSION, ALEE - The wrong guy came out. Kansas coach Bill Self wanted all his starters on the bench at the end of an 84-67 Arizona rout at the McKale Memorial Center. He sent in senior center Matt Kleinmann to replace the final starter left on the court, freshman forward Markieff Morris, as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard.
Only Morris stayed in and freshman forward Quintrell Thomas accidently checked out. Self shook his head.
TUCSON, Ariz. — The wrong guy came out.
Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich had no reason to deny it - they both thought about the 61-60 loss to Massachusetts a lot during the past week.
When practices were hard, Collins remembered how his final shot bounced off the rim with seconds to go. Aldrich noticed how disappointed his teammates were and wondered how different it would be if Collins' left-handed layup went in.
After combining for 17 points and 12 rebounds in the first half, the Morris twins mustered only two points and two rebounds combined in the final 20 minutes.
It was a fitting end to the second half for the Jayhawks. Kansas was frustrated, confused and blown out in the final 20 minutes.
"I guess I don't have any word for it," sophomore center Cole Aldrich said. "It wasn't pretty."
Arizona's Jordan Hill scored 23 points and yanked down 11 rebounds.
ckeefer@kansan.com
BY CASE KEEFER
DECEMBER 20, 2009
"I wouldn't say 'rock bottom,' Aldrich, a sophomore center, said. "But we were in the depths of the waters where we were trying to do everything we could to get back to the surface. Things weren't going all that well."
Then came a 71-59 victory against Temple where everything went back to normal for Kansas.
Collins smiled and took it all in.
"It was a bounce-back game," Collins said. "We needed a win."
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Sophmore Cole Aldrich goes up for a shot against Temple. Aldrich recorded 13 points and 11 rebounds to bounce back from a disappointing game against Umass
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
APRIL 27, 2009